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Does Advocacy Work? Lessons from ASBO New York Advocacy Day

School Business Insider

Tue Feb 10 2026

Summary

Podcast Summary: Does Advocacy Work? Lessons from ASBO New York Advocacy Day

School Business Insider
Host: John Brucato
Guest: Dr. Ron Clamser, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES
Aired: February 10, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, host John Brucato sits down with Dr. Ron Clamser to examine the real-world effectiveness of advocacy efforts, drawing on their experiences from ASBO New York’s recent Advocacy Day in Albany. The discussion provides an inside look at how school business officials engage with legislators, reflect on evolving advocacy strategies, and consider what truly drives change in public education policy.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. The Evolving Nature of Advocacy Day

Participation and organization at Advocacy Day have grown in recent years, with more structured preparation and increased involvement from diverse geographical chapters.
(02:00) Ron Clamser:
“It's becoming a much more well-oiled process…we bring our government relations committee members in, which has a diverse representation, and then we're also bringing in representatives from the various regional chapters.”
A notable shift this year involved attending a local legislative breakfast with lawmakers shortly before the statewide event, leading to more focused discussions at Advocacy Day itself.

2. Importance of Local Stories & Regional Nuance

While ASBO NY maintains consistent statewide talking points, each group is encouraged to personalize discussions to reflect regional realities and district-specific needs.
(08:29) Ron Clamser:
“When we advocate, we're advocating for membership as a whole... but what's important is that we're bringing the regional perspective to the table.”

3. What Advocacy Day Looks Like

Advocacy Day consists of a series of tightly scheduled, brief meetings with lawmakers (often 15–30 minutes), requiring concise, impactful messaging.
The day is an “experiment in grassroots democracy,” but can feel rushed and impersonal.
(09:36) Ron Clamser:
“You have a 15 minute meeting and then you're off to the next meeting...your time with the lawmakers is pretty limited.”
Attendees must be prepared for meetings with either lawmakers or their staffers, with varying levels of buy-in and engagement.

4. Relationship-Building Over Time

Advocacy is not a one-off event—building consistent, authentic relationships with legislators at both the state and local levels is crucial for long-term influence.
(26:38) Ron Clamser:
“It’s a longer process, building a relationship…they also know that when they come back home, we're here.”
ENGAGEMENT TIP: Lawmakers respond most to personal connections and stories from their own districts.

5. Preparation, Messaging, and Storytelling

Significant behind-the-scenes collaboration goes into developing key legislative priorities and preparing cohesive talking points.
Storytelling is more effective than simply presenting data; legislators want to hear the direct impact on local schools and communities.
(22:44) Ron Clamser:
“Those are the real stories…when one of our colleagues is talking about how this legislation impacts them in their local district.”

6. Priority Issues Discussed

The big topics for ASBO NY’s 2026 Advocacy Day were:
- Foundation Aid updates and adjustments
- Universal Pre-K (UPK) funding and mandates
- Prior Year adjustments (state aid owed to districts)
- Zero-emission bus transition challenges

Memorable Quote on UPK:

(24:05) Ron Clamser:
“Now they kind of gave the funding and now we're going back to them and saying, hey, thank you very much for the funding. But the reality is we don’t have the space...all sorts of other issues that made it a difficult conversation to have.”
The increased UPK funding was welcomed, but ASBO members faced complicated reactions when they raised the remaining logistical and practical challenges.

Memorable Quote on Zero-Emission Buses:

(31:22) Ron Clamser:
“With the bus mandate...we want to follow the law. And we were finding a little bit of a dance with that. We weren't getting real clarification on what happens if you don't do it.”

7. “Does Advocacy Work?” — Reflections on Influence

Both speakers express that advocacy leads to incremental change, not sweeping overnight victories.
Legislators cite concerns public officials raise, and over time, persistent advocacy helps shape funding formulas and implementation details.
(38:17) John Brucato:
“So the million-dollar question, Ronnie: does advocacy actually lead to change?”
(38:26) Ron Clamser:
“I would like to believe so. I think we need to believe in the process…if we don’t go, then the narrative is, well, if you had a problem with it, you should have come and told us.”
The key is consistency and the willingness to “beat the drum” over years, not just one session.
Effective advocacy is much about being “in the room” and maintaining credibility as an informed, constructive voice on school finance.

Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the anxiety of Advocacy Day:
(12:44) Ron Clamser:
“There’s a lot of anxiety, you know, going into it. But it’s really important. If we don’t go, then the narrative would be, well, you didn’t come and you didn’t tell us your opinion, and so we didn’t know what position you would take.”
On the “real work” of advocacy:
(20:05) Ron Clamser:
“The culmination isn’t even the meeting in the office. There’s a lot of prep work…all that background work leads to this. And then they get to hear from real people that are living it in the trenches.”
On adapting the message:
(35:50) Ron Clamser:
“We were approaching it...from a very tactical, you know, like ‘Hey, we appreciate it, but these are the issues.’ And it was almost like, well, don’t come to us with the problem unless you have a solution, right? …So we just had to, you know...retool that and say, you know what, we are appreciative...we just need to point out some things that we want to draw your attention to...”
On incremental change:
(39:10) Ron Clamser:
“If we don’t go, then the narrative is, well, if you had a problem with it, you should have come and told us... There are plenty of other players in the game that are going to speak their narrative.”

Notable Timestamps

01:52 – Ron Clamser on the evolution of Advocacy Day participation
09:36 – “Experiment in grassroots democracy”: what Advocacy Day meetings look like
20:05 – The importance of preparation and groundwork before official advocacy
24:05 – Challenges of new UPK funding and lawmaker reactions
26:38 – Relationship-building as a long-term advocacy strategy
28:36 – Recap of this year’s legislative priorities
31:22 – Unanswered questions around the zero-emission bus mandate
35:50 – Fine-tuning advocacy messaging to balance gratitude and concerns
38:17 – “Does advocacy work?” direct question and answer

Closing Thoughts

The episode reveals that successful school advocacy is a marathon, not a sprint. The consistent, professional presence of school business officials—armed with real local stories, thorough preparation, and a willingness to adapt messaging—allows them to shape policy, even if only incrementally. The relationships built and credibility established ensure that when big shifts come, school business voices are part of the conversation.

As Ron Clamser put it:
“If we want our voice to be heard, we have to speak our voice.” (40:54)

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Transcript

A (0:01)

You're listening to asbo international's school business insider. I'm your host, john brucato. Each week on School Business Insider, I sit down with school business officials and industry experts from around the world to share their stories and explore the topics that matter most to you. Find out what it means to be a school business official and get your insider pass on all things school business. Hello everyone, and welcome back to School Business Insider. We recently wrapped up Asthma New York's Advocacy Day in Albany, where school business officials from across the state met directly with legislators to talk about funding, mandates, sustainability and the realities districts are facing right now. In today's episode, I'm joined by Dr. Ron Clamser, Assistant Superintendent for business at Putnam north and Westchester Boces, to reflect on the advocacy process itself, what makes advocacy effective, whether it truly influences policy, and how legislators respond to ESBA NY's priority list. We'll talk candidly about preparation, messaging, relationship building, and why school business officials play such a critical role in telling the fiscal and operational story of public education. Ron, I'm glad to have you back on School Business Insider. My friend. How you doing?

B (1:23)

Doing well, John. Thanks for having me back.

A (1:25)

Always, always. You're becoming a staple around here, so I'm glad you agreed to come back on. So we just wrapped up Advocacy Day and from your perspective, what really stood out about this year's experience? You know, I believe I had you on two years ago to really talk about this process, but you know, each year is a lot of the same, but there are definitely nuances. So what were kind of your takeaways from the Advocacy Day we just had?

B (1:52)

Yeah, so this year was a little different from my experience because I've been doing this for several years. I feel that the association has grown in its capacity to really organize and lead an Advocacy Day and it's becoming a much more well oiled process. Right. And you know, the executive director of asbo, Brian Chicknicki, does a great job along with Julie Marlette, who's from the firm that the association utilizes, you know, to assist us with this. And it's become just really a great event. We've got a lot more participation from groups throughout the state. And so what we do as an association, we, we bring our government relations committee members in, which has a diverse representation and then we're also bringing in representatives from the various regional chapters. So that's been growing over the course of the year. What was unique about this particular year for me was the Friday before our statewide advocacy, as you know, because we're both in the same location in the Lower Hudson, Hudson Valley part of New York. We had a local advocacy breakfast, a legislative breakfast. And so many of the people that we were scheduled to meet with in Albany in their office had attended the legislative breakfast on Friday, you know, and we're uniquely situated because in our area, Senator Andrew Stewart Cousins, who is the majority leader of the Senate, resides in our area, and Senator Shelley Mayer, who runs the Senate, she's the chair of the Education Committee, also is in our area. Right. So those are two we kind of call heavy hitters, you know, in the.

B (35:50)

I don't want to say they were abrasive. Maybe we had, we had one that was giving us some significant pushback. But you could tell that there was little interest in, in dialing back this program. That from, from their standpoint, there was. This is a win. Win, right? Yeah, we're good. We're gonna. Whether it started as a New York City, you know, focused matter and then wanted to become statewide, this was something that is going to have outstanding public support, right? Of course, overwhelming public support. And so there was no way that people were going to dial this back. And so you got the feel that it was more like, you need to figure this out. We're giving you the Money. Now you need to figure it out kind of. Kind of pushback. And, you know, we can figure it out. And in some cases, we're, you know, we're excited about the opportunity, you know, as educators, to get little ones into the education pipeline sooner. Right. We know that the sooner you get students into the pipeline, the better outcomes there are later in, you know, in their educational career. We were approaching it kind of like business officials from a very tactical, you know, like, hey, we appreciate it, but these are the issues. And. And it was almost like, well, don't. Don't come to us with the problem unless you have a solution. Right. In a sense. And so we just had to, you know, like. And I even brought it to the group. I said, let's go back to what our colleague did on the Friday breakfast, started the presentation out with a slide of gratitude to thank the lawmakers that were in attendance for all the things that they've accomplished on behalf of school districts. And so we kind of just retooled that and say, you know what, we are appreciative of what you're giving, but as we move forward in this process and we're supporting the process, we just need to point out some things that we want to draw your attention to that that are going to need to be fixed and tweaked along the way, as opposed to saying, like, yes, thank you for the money, but it's still not possible to do.