Policies often directly impact teachers' lives and practice, requiring them to engage in spite of extremely busy schedules. This article offers encouragement to music educators wanting to be active--and become activists--in education policy. Before becoming active, one must understand how music education policies come to be. I argue that arts education policies mostly come to be indirectly, as an afterthought. This operates in numerous ways, involving collateral damage in other policy-making processes; nongermane, eleventh-hour negotiations; and incomplete or subverted policy implementation. To demonstrate these processes, I reference examples including access to a high-quality music education, content of national and state music standards, and music graduation education requirements. I also offer general recommendations for music educators who wish to advocate for positive change.