Political effectiveness is important for English and language arts teachers. A videotape presentation stressing educational accountability (not included in this document) and a list of the educational issues affected by pending bills in the Kansas state legislature both point to the necessity of political involvement. There are three lessons to learn to be effective in legislative politics. The first is to recognize political seniority and power and their importance relative to the ideas behind legislation. Several quotes from prayers by the Kansas legislative chaplain help illustrate this point. The second lesson is that one should form coalitions among common interests, such as teachers, school boards, and school administrators. The fate of two Kansas school finance bills--an unsuccessful one pushed by teachers and a reformulated bill that has won broad legislative backing--emphasizes this point. The third lesson stresses that one must communicate effectively with legislators and that personal communication is the most effective method. Related to this lesson is the fact that literacy and communication are economically important, which suggests that English and language arts teachers are helping make the national economy more literate and hence more productive. (RW)