Five Things to Make Your Schools the School of Choice

Your staff and parents need to believe that Snyder Elementary School offers a great opportunity for their children and that your staff goes the extra mile and cares about their children.

This July, NSPRA will be offering a guidebook on Making and Marketing Your School as a School of Choice on this topic. The booklet explains a process of getting staff and parents together, collaborating to solve some image problems that their school may have, and then developing a marketing plan to maintain and boost enrollment in their school. It also urges readers to look at the messaging of the ABC Academy on the other side of the street, see what they tout that may be attacking one of your perceived weaknesses.

Taking this School versus School approach allows you to play your comprehensive district’s card as a value-added benefit.

All the auxiliary services and benefits that you provide — from counseling, the spectrum of Special Ed programs, co-curricular opportunities, and enhanced technology programs — all add up to a major plus when people consider choosing a school.

If what you offer is unmatched, say so with a checklist approach similar to a report card that clearly communicates what your competing charter doesn’t have. We need to be proactive about our attributes in this era of competition.

A commitment to this school-by-school strategy can benefit you in various ways:

It can reduce your need to focus on perceived Big Public Education problems. You will be dealing with what’s really important to your local community, their kids, and their schools.

Our research over the past 10 years continues to reveal that school-based communication is often the most read communication offering in school districts today. You have always had the attention of parents. But now in this era of over-communication, it is more important than ever.
Believe it or not, in a single second, 2.5 million emails are sent, and in that same second:-

• 193,000 text messages are posted
• 219,000 posts are added to Facebook
• 7,2590 tweets are sent

To break through this clutter, you need an interested audience.
And you have it, for the most part, with your PARENTS.
Most parents and families have a vested interest in their child’s school ¾ much more than in your school district. Take advantage of it and build support at the school level.

It will spill over into their next school in your district and continue through their entire time with your schools. You can then convert these parents into supporters for your schools. They understand your schools and will not believe the public-education bashing because their experience trumps all the negative rhetoric they hear.

But this will not happen unless we continue to be proactive in developing school communication programs at each school.

2. Internal Communication is critical to be successful. Create a CULTURE OF COMMUNICATION in your districts.

As we complete communication audits for school districts across the country, we see that by far the weakest component is internal communication.

Ideally, we want all staff to become ambassadors for their schools, to vote in finance elections where it applies, and to become advocates for their schools, their children, and their communities. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.

Lots of lip service is given to having internal communication but it often breaks down quickly as pockets of staff have little knowledge or a feeling that they know what is really going on.

They report little authentic engagement — even when their input is sought on topics of mutual interest. Most school districts have a problem in closing the communication loop when it comes to internal communication.

Superintendents can make a big difference in setting the parameters for the importance of communication at every level. Our experience tells us that communication accountability is rarely measured and that may be the clue to solve this disparity.

We need to hold principals, central office administrators, service personnel supervisors, and others accountable with a communication component in their evaluations. (What gets measured gets done.)

Some do a great job communicating internally, while others ignore it. I can’t tell you how many times we have heard from a staff member, “Well, I find out what’s happening around here by calling my colleague in another building because their principal tells her staff what is going on and why decisions are made.”

In many cases, the staff actually want to know what’s going on and can’t get an answer without fishing for it.

It does not have to be that way.

As superintendents, you can begin by modeling an approach to start the process to make internal communication a priority. You can begin by planting the seeds for a culture of communication in your district.

All staff are part of your communication effort and, by making a commitment to communication awareness and with a bit of training, you can make it happen.

To make my point about the power of internal communication, one staff member recently reported from an audit of a school district with 25,000 students:

“When the district’s tagline is not believed by the frontline, this district is headed for big trouble.”

Repeat, “When the district’s tagline is not believed by the frontline, this district is headed for big trouble.”

3.       Like it or not, political communication is now part of our jobs.
There is no denying that our jobs have changed. The new wave of elected officials is empowered as a result of their recent victories. They psychologically seem to be on a roll and are attempting to move their agenda as quickly as possible. So like it or not, we need to think like a politician.

Here’s some insight:

Jay Rosen writing for a New York University publication asked us to answer these questions if we are to think politically:

• What do we stand for that others also believe in?
• Who is aligned against us?
• Where are we most vulnerable?
• What are our opponents’ strengths?
• How can we broaden our base?
• Who are our natural allies?
• What can we unite around, despite our internal differences?
• What are the overlapping interests that might permit us to make common cause with people who are not (education leaders)?

And David Ignatius of The Washington Post, wrote a piece after the election entitled, The Truth Is Losing. In an interview with the State Department’s Richard Stengel, Ignatius offered:

“We like to think that truth has to battle itself out in the marketplace of ideas. Well, it may be losing in that marketplace today. Simply having fact-based messaging is not sufficient to win the information war.”

The article points out that going “tit for tat” in arguing with extremists through social media was not that fruitful. Stengel noted that by empowering others to be the messenger, they could make the case more emphatically. “The central insight was that we’re not the best messenger for our messages because in the post-truth world, the people we are trying to reach automatically question anything from the U.S. government.” With today’s climate, this may ring true with some of your audiences as well.

Have others tell your story: Begin or revitalize a true Key Communicator Program

In my 40 years in this business, I  have never seen this tactic fail if executed correctly—Never!

Over the years, it has been watered down by some as an old-fashioned listserv, but used correctly, a Key Communicator Program can be valuable.

Some key points are:

This trust-building tactic is critical in today’s instant communication world. You truly need a Key Communicator Program to inspire confidence in what you say and do. It adds credibility.

Unfortunately over recent years, as I already noted, we’ve seen an increase of Key Communicator Programs that have turned into little more than listservs in certain communities. If you’re tapping the old and new power structures in your community, regularly meeting with small segments of your key communicators, and communicating with them electronically, you’ll be on your way to building a base of well-respected spokespeople for your schools. As David Ogilvy reminded us, “Don’t count the people that you reach, reach the people who count.”

Remember, many parents and others may prefer to hear their school messages from respected leaders and neighbors rather than from school officials. If run appropriately, this Key Communicator process can help you develop credibility in this era of anything-goes social media.

One last note on Key Communicators: People need to get to know you face to face. Only then can you can begin using your earned credibility through videos, Twitter, email, Facebook, etc. But first, you need to start with in-person meetings — otherwise people may just see you as another empty pitchman or woman for your schools — sort of like the ones you see on late-night insurance commercials.

May the truth be known: Set-the-record-straight feature on websites and social media

We’ve seen districts dedicate a section on their websites or Facebook pages to setting the record straight. Even though research may show that fake news may still overcome this practice, it’s often refreshing for school employees to know that someone is defending “the truth” about their schools. And in some ways, it shows that the superintendent has their collective backs.

Be prepared. Set up a process for staff to report fake news items to you so that your leadership is aware of what’s out there. Once you know, you can decide what to do or not to do but, some staff member who has good judgment should be responsible to monitor the fake news front on a daily basis.

4.       Support communication as a management function.

By now, I hope you are beginning to see that communication should be a management function. You need to integrate communication into all that you do or you will risk losing the battle we now face. A strong communication function will help you advance your system during this period of uncertainty.

As you can see by now, I am not talking just about great publicity but about engagement, marketing, reputation management, ongoing internal engagement, and external communication programs.

You need to have someone who knows what they are doing to make your communication function be as effective as it can be.

Former vice President Joe Biden, (“Uncle Joe” to some of us), often says he can tell an organization’s priorities very quickly by looking at their line-item budgets.

Using Uncle Joe’s formula, I can tell you that communication is not a priority in most school districts right now. Our research shows that most NSPRA districts spend just one tenth of one percent of their entire school district budget on communication. One tenth of one percent — that’s .001% — Really? Charter organizations are spending from 10 to 25% or more on their communication and marketing efforts according to our observations. Budget wise, this is not a fair fight!

Every year for our Annual Seminar, we receive proposals to run sessions entitled PR on Shoestring. During my tenure, we’ve never accepted any of them because that’s the wrong message to send if we want to make a management commitment to communication. And most of these shoestring programs normally trip over their own laces and die easily because the district made no commitment to it.

Communication must be a management function.

5.       We need to tell our stories, and leverage technology and our integrity

We need to share many of our best stories so our key audiences understand what we are all about. Quick videos can help and use them through social media can make a difference.

Recently we ran a story from a Missouri district that told its story of middle school students crafting new laws for their municipality, discussing their ideas with a volunteer community lawyer, and then going to court to present their new proposals to a local courtroom judge. This project demonstrated kids and teachers having fun through the teaching/learning experience. It was a great story.

We know that hundreds of relevant, uplifting stories happen every day. It’s our job to share them with our communities.

Since technology is exploding in our field of communication, you can leverage it to expand your reach and vitality in your community. Just make sure the focus meets your strategic messages for your school community. Make sure your social media efforts are completed with a purpose.

And finally, in this fake-news, alternative-fact world, you need to bring integrity into this discussion. Character counts in our world of communication.

We see so much twisting of facts, just plain mistruths or half-truths along with the fake news accounts. Your staff and community need to know that you stand for integrity.

Today, with a smartphone, anyone can publish any falsehood. But reasonable parents, staff, and others need to know what’s true, where you stand, and how you will lead your system. Don’t let silence create a vacuum—your critics will quickly fill it.

We have always said that the term “PR” really stands for 2 items:

Having a Public Responsibility to communicate

And Developing Public Relationships.

That is where we build credibility and trust through authentic communication.

Today, I thank the Horace Mann League for its award and I am committed to making even more Friends of Public Education as we all know that we need as many friends as we can get.

Please join me in making that happen. Because I ask if we do not do it, who will?

Make that commitment at the local level now, more than ever.

Thanks again.

_______

And one note before I try to persuade you as to why we need more communication and engagement than ever since we are in an Era of Viral Disruption — as Ted Koppel puts it.

The new leadership in Washington is creating fear and confrontation, proposing weaker funding, and increasing doubt about what I call Big Public Education. (Gallup Reference/PDK Big Education is a collection of the highly ranked local schools—go figure!)

And the new administration’s misguided optimism is like our first-year teachers who are ready to conquer the world for their students. And even though it seems that the administration is succeeding at this point, they, like our first-year teachers, are beginning to realize that achieving their mission may not be as easy as it seems.

Their overall mission seems to be killing public education as a viable pathway for all our students—not just those students in their charter or voucher schools.

Our nation’s system of check and balances is helping to stop them, but our education community needs to do more to create hurdles, roadblocks, and pressure wherever we can. And we also need to continue to do great work!

Now we have been fighting this bashing for some time. And, like you, I am sick and tired of defending what we do for children ¾ along with the notion that what we do is not nearly enough.

At NSPRA, we applaud and admire Horace Mann League and I hope you appreciate the changes made by HML in the past few years. The league is now providing you with helpful ammunition of persuasive articles every Monday morning. We tip our hat to Jack McKay and others who help make that happen.

To help in that effort, NSPRA also publishes all the persuasive articles we can by pointing out the silly comparisons and foibles being promoted by our competition.

The facts are ¾ if anyone pays attention to facts these days ¾ that our public schools are doing exceedingly well where we have the resources and the consistency of leadership to do our jobs.

Yes, consistency of leadership is so important as I’ve learned from my years in this business. If anything, our school boards need to learn from professional sports ¾ don’t change your superintendent every 2 to 3 years unless you want to consistently fail and badger your staff with start/stop initiatives.

Public education continues to improve and, yet, we still have pockets of students who need much more than instructional assistance — as Jim Harvey clearly pointed out in his recent study and the impactful HML report: The Iceberg Effect.

You know better than others just how hard it is to teach children who do not show up or who are dealing with health, poverty, hunger, and lack of home support.

So, now, let me give you my take on what to do about all this from a communication, engagement and strategic standpoint:

First, let me say that it appears that charters are here to stay.

I know that some states are still combatting new legislation, but we feel the charter train has left the station. Vouchers, however, are a much different story.

And for anyone who will listen, a number of recent studies have shown that students in voucher programs do not achieve well in their new settings.

In any event, we see using public dollars for private schools as wrong.

That doesn’t mean we cannot work together and collaborate for the good of the community where possible, but funding private schools with public dollars is just a no-no as far as we are concerned.

While completing a communication audit years ago, a wise superintendent told me that he legally does all he can for the parochial schools in his district. He said, “Rich, after all, THEY ARE ALL OUR CHILDREN.”

That’s a good approach and it worked well for his school community.