Legislative Services: Advocating for You
- dalillama
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
In your role as a Georgia educator, advocating for students is one of the important ways you look out for them. At PAGE, advocating for Georgia educators is one of the many important ways we look out for you.
As you consider the factors that impact your ability to effectively serve students while growing in your profession, caring for your family, cultivating work/life balance, and preparing for your future, there’s one critical aspect that may not immediately come to mind: state policy.
State policy greatly influences your work – from compensation and retirement benefits to testing, evaluation, curriculum, class size, rules of conduct, and so much more. Changes in one or more of these areas can dramatically alter your work both inside and outside the classroom.
State policy greatly influences your work – from compensation and retirement benefits to testing, evaluation, curriculum, class size, rules of conduct, and so much more. Changes in one or more of these areas can dramatically alter your work both inside and outside the classroom. And, the lawmakers responsible for education budget and policy decisions often have little-to-no insight into your day-to-day realities as educators.
This is why you need a team of legislative and education policy experts advocating on the issues and topics that matter to you. As a PAGE member, this is exactly what you have.
Your PAGE Legislative team develops, communicates about, and advocates for policies at the state and federal levels that support Georgia educators and enable them to thrive professionally. Though their most visible work happens during each session of the Georgia General Assembly, the team advocates on behalf of members year-round.
Guided by direct member input, and in collaboration with the PAGE Legislative Advisory Committee, your Legislative team:
Attends each education-focused legislative and agency meeting
Tracks and analyzes all education-focused bills
Engages with lawmakers to
Raise awareness of the issues members tell us matter most to them
Express concerns or support of proposed legislation based on member-driven legislative priorities
Recommend changes to benefit Georgia educators
Testifies at hearings and speaks with the media
Reports to members on all legislative and agency meetings and developments
Provides members with policy resources and advocacy tools
Hosts member events such as webinars and the annual PAGE Day on Capitol Hill advocacy opportunity
Your PAGE Legislative Team Members
Margaret Ciccarelli
Director of Legislative Services
Margaret Ciccarelli is a longtime PAGE employee who has served in various legal, legislative, advocacy, and communications roles. The daughter of a lifelong professional educator, Margaret grew up and attended public schools in Statesboro, Georgia, before attending the University of Georgia and later Mercer Law School. She, her husband, and their three children live in Decatur.
Josh Stephens
Legislative Services Specialist
Josh Stephens has worked with the organization since 2012. He grew up in Madison, Georgia, where his mother served on the Morgan County Board of Education for many years. Josh earned his undergraduate degree from the former Augusta State University (now Augusta University) before moving to Atlanta to earn his Master of Public Policy degree from Georgia State University. He lives in Covington with his wife, Graci, and dog, Cerny. Josh and Graci welcomed their first child, Hattie, in December.
Robert Aycock
Legislative Communications Specialist
Robert Aycock joined the legislative team in 2023. He comes from a family of educators as both his mother and grandmother were teachers in Georgia schools. A graduate of Lassiter High School in Cobb County, Aycock holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia College and State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Georgia State University. Aycock lives in Mableton with his wife Leona, who he met while they were both interns at the Georgia Capitol.
Claire Suggs
Senior Education Policy Consultant
Claire Handley Suggs is an education policy expert who has worked with leading organizations throughout the state to improve public education and serve Georgia’s children. She currently serves as senior consultant to PAGE. She is leading a multi-year study on Georgia school districts’ use of federal pandemic relief funds for the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education. She provides strategic assistance, research, and analysis, and advocacy support to organizations, including nonprofits and school districts. Previously, Suggs was senior education policy analyst for PAGE, served with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and worked for the Clarke County School District.