MARGARET CICCARELLI

Margaret Ciccarelli engages with the media at the state capitol.

Margaret Ciccarelli joined PAGE staff in 2003. An educator’s daughter, she followed in her mother’s UGA footsteps before attending Mercer Law School. While in her final year at Mercer, she enrolled in an education law course, and when a PAGE attorney and lobbyist position was advertised by the school’s career services department, she quickly applied.

Mentored by Jill Hay and PAGE staff attorneys, Ciccarelli fielded questions and concerns from PAGE members encountering myriad legal problems. She valued the opportunity to provide educators with legal assistance and familiarize herself with state law, board of education rules, and other legal tools.

At the time, PAGE Legal encompassed what are now separate legal and legislative departments. From the 2004 legislative session onward, Ciccarelli worked directly under Director Tom Wommack at the state Capitol. Under Wommack’s tutelage, she learned to check the hopper, review bills, deliver testimony, and trade information. She became the writer of PAGE’s daily Capitol Report and relished demystifying legal and legislative jargon to effectively communicate legislative news to busy educators.

In conjunction with Wommack’s retirement, the legal and legislative departments were divided, and Executive Director Allene Magill named Ciccarelli as Director of Legislative Affairs. Ciccarelli soon hired Legislative Specialist Josh Stephens. Together, they expanded PAGE’s Capitol reporting, making it a daily must-read for educators, legislators, and lobbyists. Ciccarelli and Stephens also expanded the PAGE Legislative Task Force, now the PAGE Legislative Advisory Committee, and initiated annual surveys of PAGE members, sharing findings with policymakers and news media and shedding light on the opinions and experiences of Georgia educators.

As the team grew to include Legislative Policy Analyst Claire Suggs and Legislative Communications Specialist Robert Aycock, the four united to further advance the work through enhanced communication with PAGE members, media, and policymakers. The team also transitioned the annual PAGE Day on Capitol Hill event from an evening gathering at the Freight Depot to a daytime event at the State Capitol with an advocacy-driven agenda that includes policy briefings, advocacy coaching, and direct educator engagement with lawmakers. PAGE Legislative now offers webinars, animated videos, and studies illuminating the motivations and challenges of Georgia educators.

With her sights set on advancing the association’s core values, Ciccarelli is committed to strengthening public education, growing PAGE membership, and navigating the ever-evolving political landscape to support PAGE members and staff and help them bring their best to their roles.

Ciccarelli continues to advise PAGE members, provide legal training in schools, and publish the Capitol Report—more than 1,000 cumulatively, to date. Her work week includes delivering presentations to elected officials, providing comments to media outlets, mentoring young educators and advocates, editing PAGE reports, visiting rural schools, meeting with advocacy professionals in neighboring states, and collaborating with agency and association leaders.    

With her sights set on advancing the association’s core values, Ciccarelli is committed to strengthening public education, growing PAGE membership, and navigating the ever-evolving political landscape to support PAGE members and staff and help them bring their best to their roles.