Marching, chanting, waving signs and flags on the steps of the Texas state capitol and making their presence known. Students and parents of Texas joined collectively in protest on Monday, February 24, with a long list of concerns for their public schools at a Texas PTA event known as Rally Day. The group expressed their worries and rallied together for the improvement of Texas public schools. 

Rally Day is a biannual event, occurring simultaneously with legislative sessions. At the event, members of Texas PTAs gather together to support their schools and advocate for their needs to Texas Representatives and legislature members in hopes for change during the session.

“This year was my first Rally Day I’ve been to and it was very enlightening,” librarian Tara Walker-Leon said. “There were so many people who brought students with them which was inspiring because it’s all about students’ futures and the students should have a vested interest in that.”

Rally Day began with a student caucus at the First Baptist Church of Austin, where Texas State Representative Gina Hinjosa of District 49 spoke, along with five students who are members of their respective schools’ PTSAs. These students sat on a panel, spoke about their personal experiences, what changes they wanted for their districts, and answered questions from both student and parent audience members.

“It’s really important to me that when I graduate I’ll leave behind a better district and a better education system,” Rouse high school senior and student panel member Mayank Bharadwaj said. “I’m here today to ask our legislators some tough questions about the policies they’re making that don’t highlight students’ values, which is something I want to bring to their attention.”

These student speakers attended Rally Day to advocate for a variety of different needs in their districts. Some attendees wanted to emphasize that students should get more consideration and focus from legislators because they are the future of Texas, while others wanted to express concern about funding priorities for public schools.

“I’m hoping to talk to some of my legislators and state representatives to get the idea into their heads that as students, we are their future voters,” Marcus high school sophomore Anoushka Kolatkar said. “A lot of these legislators and state representatives don’t reach out to students or get to know their public school students at all because they’re focused on who’s getting them votes right now.”

After listening to the caucus, students and PTA members marched half-a-mile from the church steps to the Texas Capitol to hear speeches from legislators and representatives, and later meet with them in conferences. There were not only high school students advocating for their schools at Rally Day. Fourth graders Jocelyn Donner* and Johanna Davidson*, were among students from Zilker Elementary School who attended Rally Day. Zilker principal AJ Pitts brought 14 students who were selected from 400 student applicants. These 14 elementary students brought handmade signs and marched alongside PTSA members during the rally. The students attended meetings with State Representative James Talarico of District 50 and Senator Sara Ekhart of District 14. In these meetings, the students were able to ask questions about student advocacy and what they can do to help their public school communities.

“I’m here to try to change some things that aren’t that good in the school system,” Davidson* said. “Our school is 75 years old and we haven’t had any renovations, I think we need some funding to help that.”

A group of Bowie students attended Rally Day with Walker-Leon through Raise Your Hand Texas, a program about getting students involved in advocacy and politics.

“Rally Day gave these students the ability to know that their words have power,” senior Isabel Bauer said. “We as students are capable of more than just talking to each other, we can try to make an actual impact and changes.”

*Jocelyn Donner and Johanna Davidson are fictitious names generated to protect the identities of sources who asked not to be identified.