Parkland School Director Honored With Advocacy Award

Parkland School Board Vice President Roberta Marcus was honored Tuesday night by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association with the second annual Timothy Allwein Advocacy Award.

Marcus, a Parkland school board member since 1995, was selected to receive the award as a result of her many volunteer hours devoted to raising awareness of key legislative issues on the local, state and federal level.

"I am truly humbled and tremendously honored to receive this award," Marcus said during Tuesday night's Parkland School Board meeting. "But, this is not given to me alone. I couldn't have done this without everyone in this room -- my colleagues, administration and the management team. We are about public education locally, in the state and in the nation."

The award was established in 2011 in honor of Tim Allwein, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association's former assistant director of Governmental and Member Relations who died unexpectedly.

It is presented annually to an individual school director, or an entire board, to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in the association's platform.

Marcus served as Pennsylvania School Boards Association president in 2010.

She was elected president of the Parkland School Board for three terms and vice president for two terms.

She has served as the Lehigh County legislative coordinator and testified before the Pennsylvania House Education Committee on Accountability Block Grants and cyber charter schools.

Marcus was also among the inaugural group of individuals to receive the association's Master School Board Member accreditation in 2008.

The criteria surrounding the Timothy Allwein Advocacy Award are as follows:

* Impact on legislation or legislators: Actions that have an effect on advancing public education consistent with PSBA policies, generating support and/or raising new awareness among legislators.

* Mobilizing grass roots advocacy: Actions that mobilize legislative advocacy by fellow board members and/or members of the community.

* Raising public awareness: Actions generating support for and raising awareness among state policymakers, media and the general public regarding a specific legislative issue or issues.