What’s a School Communicator to Do?

Nobody Reads it

A major frustration for communicators is that many of our audiences often do not read or even scan the materials we prepare just for them. In the communication audits we conduct, we are often amazed by the lack of awareness — let alone understanding — that school district staff at all levels demonstrate about key issues.

Often content is sent directly to them, either through electronic or print delivery systems. But often these staff members delete, toss, or just set the messages aside and never read them. “They” tell us they are too busy to read “the fluff” from the central office or even from their principals’ or supervisor’s office. In some cases, they are partially correct; our observations tell us that the communication materials may not be the best or most inviting. The material is often too long, too short on relevancy, out-of-date, and, yes, frequently full of too much puff and not enough substance.

Staff Obligation to Read as a Condition of Employment

The best internal communication materials are authentic and, at the same time, deliver just enough “puff” to make staff feel good to celebrate the accomplishments of their colleagues and students. But the real culprit in the breakdown of most internal communication rests with the staff person who refuses to read the info you send them. Early in the relationship, you need to note that it is their job to read the information their employer gives them.

The late and great PR guru, Pat Jackson, told us that each employee needs to sign an employee contract agreement that stipulates that reading your internal newsletter, Just for You (or whatever you call it) is a condition of employment. Pat used to say, “Yes, reading our corporate materials is part of your job, too.” (Actually, he said with a bit more color and flavor than that, but you get the point.)

Create a Communication Component for Staff Orientation

Now I understand that this idea may be a bit over the top for some of you, but, at minimum, all new staff members must be taught through orientation sessions about their responsibilities as employees when it comes to reading your official internal newsletter,  additional internal devices, and social media policies in your systems.

In its marketing efforts for many years, The Washington Post has used the tagline, “If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.” In our schools, we shouldn’t have to worry about staff actually receiving the info, but we do have to do a better job of making sure that they actually take the time to review and read what we send.

And, of course, our end of the bargain is to make our internal pieces as readable, engaging, timely, authentic, and relevant as possible.

Rich Bagin, APR
NSPRA Executive Director

Parent Involvment on Steroids?

Parent Involvement on Steroids?

Call it what you will — “parents on steroids” or an “extreme takeover” — but a group of parents has taken a school headmistress and several teachers hostage in the town of Berre l’Etang in the south of France. The parents want one of the teachers fired. And those of us in school communication in North America think WE have dealt with just about everything in school community relations!

“We are very worried that the pupils are falling behind in school. We think our children are in danger. That’s why we have decided to hold the headmistress and a couple of teachers hostage. We want things to change,” said Christophe Planes, one of the parents, the daily Le Figaro reports.

The 15 adults occupying the school and holding several people hostage said they want the teacher in charge of their 9-year-old children to be fired. The headmistress said relations with the teacher, who is in his first year of teaching, have been difficult. The parents said they are aware that they risk legal action but insist their children have been “held hostage for several months.”

Local education authorities have agreed to transfer the teacher to another school. The parents, however, said they want a written document promising his transfer. Sounds like an ongoing credibility and trust problem to me.

Parent Trigger Laws

Of course, nothing so drastic could happen here in our own backyards — or so we think. California has opted for “parent trigger laws” where a majority of parents can demand a school shut down, or can change its staff, or can become a charter school when their schools perform poorly and damage the future of their kids. Mixed results have been reported on implementation of that California experience.

In the communication audits NSPRA conducts in the U.S. and Canada, we normally ask the parents, staff, and community leaders about the process of giving input before decisions are made, whether the input is actually listened to, and what type of feedback they received on their input. In other words, is anybody listening to and acknowledging their input in an authentic and helpful way? Is the communication loop closed?  

We Can Do Much Better

First, I am pleased to report that pockets of great two-way communication do exist in some systems. But in many places, two-way communication is not offered and its absence leads to growing levels of stress and frustration. No genuine input opportunities exist, or if they do, people describe them as “lip service” or even a sham. The second half of the communication process is rarely completed.

The result: Frustration skyrockets, savvy parents “shop” for other schools, staff spirit and morale turn negative, budget support wanes, and the feeling that “our schools” transform into “their schools” as parents and staff no longer feel connected to their community school.

We know a better way exists as it is being practiced in many NSPRA districts throughout North America. Building a culture of two-way communication is one of the best things you can do for today’s schools.

 Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director  

 

Common Core Standards Require Uncommon Communication Effort

All but five states have adopted the Common Core Standards setting new curriculum and eventual accountability standards for our schools. For the most part, I say that your principals, teaching staff, and parents know little or nothing about the wave of reform coming to them in the next year or so.

In several meetings I’ve had with other educational leaders, they agree that most local educators — the people who will be implementing the standards — are unaware of the changes to come. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this launch of the Common Core Standards in your schools should be halted now unless a communication plan for implementing it is completed and ready to help the implementation process.

Tons of organization research tells us that communication is the critical component of change in any organization. Those who plan with communication in mind are normally successful. Those who don’t, are slapped with ineffective and incompetent labels and then are often soon on the way out the door, leaving a mess behind which includes finger-pointing among state officials, superintendents, Board members, and local curriculum leaders. The media picks up the controversy and our critics use it as another reason to bash education as we once again prove that we are failing at another school reform priority. One of newer critics — state legislators — will also now join the bashing banter. 

Of course at the expense of sounding like a snake oil salesman with an elixir to stop the pain and bring comfort to the Common Core process, you really do need to call “time out” and develop a communication strategy and plan to implement it.

Participants at all levels must know why the change is called for, what the changes are, how they will be implemented, when will they be implemented, and what results are expected. Parents want to know how things will be different for their kids. Right now, some parents are asking teachers, but the teachers do not have answers. Teachers are asking their principals and most principals tell us that they, too, have received little or no guidance on what’s ahead for them in Common Core implementation.

NSPRA has been preaching for years that leading school districts always develop a communication strategy for major changes in their schools. Top districts understand that even smaller changes can be controversial if the communication ball is fumbled along the way.

The Common Core Standards represent major changes that touch just about everyone in your schools. Now is the time to do your research to discover what’s real in your state. You must plan accordingly. You work too hard protecting the reputation of your staff and schools. Don’t fumble this opportunity; start the process now!  

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

Audience Feedback Needed to Plan E-Communication Efforts

Most parents ranked social media near the bottom of the list when it comes to school communication.

Yep, that was a big surprise to me, too, and probably should be challenged.

The results from NSPRA’s Communication Accountability Program (CAP) Survey tell us that social media (Facebook, Twitter, and blogs) came in next to the bottom of 17 communication vehicles available to most school communities. Our CAP leadership team was very surprised with this ranking even to the point of asking our corporate partner, K12 Insight, Inc., to go back and check those results. K12 did just that and confirmed the results.

These days, just about all the buzz in communication circles deals with the social networking. Every industry pub, e-newsletter, or blog by leading experts say that even though social networking is the wild west of communication where proven strategies and results are just now being defined, you MUST use social networking. It may even make you feel downright embarrassed if you are not now offering a Facebook page and Twitter account for your schools. (For the total results of the CAP survey and its background go to http://www.nspra.org/CounselorAug2011.)

As CAP leaders noted, it may be too early for some communities to rely on Facebook or Twitter for their school news. People may view these tools as more social than official and, therefore, do not count on them for their school information and news. And remember, these same parents ranked email and e-newsletters from the schools at the top of their lists. So, these parents are already using online tools, they just want their news delivered by other electronic vehicles including parent portals, notification systems, etc.

Recently, one school district even shut down its Facebook account because it was being deluged with less-than-appropriate political and personal banter that had little to do with making the school district a better place to learn, live, and grow.

With the millions of subscribers using these online tools, they are here to stay. And many NSPRA members are already successfully using these tools to their school district’s advantage — you can’t beat the speed and instant access they bring to members of your community.

But one of the first critical principles of great communication still prevails.

It is time to slap yourself in the face, avoid the bandwagon approach, and complete some research about your target audiences.

You can ask the same questions that we used in our CAP survey or those we use in completing our communication audits. What information do they want? When do they want it? And what’s the best methods to get them the information? Then toss in a question or two about credibility of the tools and messengers. Your results should point you to the best vehicles for your schools.

The real bottom line is to integrate social media into your communication plan for your district. But you must understand what it can do for you and what it can do to you. And then, based on your research, strategically chart your social media course for your schools.

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

National Survey Confirms Value of Communication

Become a “Go-To” School District Through a “Go-To” Communication Program

If your school district is the go-to resource for credible information about your schools, you are well on your way to becoming a “go-to” school district. And that is the enviable goal of many school districts throughout North America.

In our era of over-communication and competition fed by neighborhood bloggers or other special interest groups, a direct communication and engagement program is a solid gold investment for today’s schools. NSPRA’s Communication Accountability Committee (CAP) survey proves that. (See for yourself at: http://www.nspra.org/CounselorAug2011.)

Some other “take-aways” from the just-released national survey of communication preferences offered by NSPRA and its CAP Committee are: 

•  As NSPRA President Ron Koehler, APR notes, “The message is clear. Open, honest, and transparent communication is the best antidote to public mistrust. This research finds the institutions that invest in communication and provide opportunities for dialogue and dissent are the first choice for information about the services they provide.”
•   Chris Tennill, APR, the chair of the CAP Committee, states, “People support public schools that have an ongoing, everyday commitment to transparently and proactively communicating with their community about the important decisions as well as the mundane.”
•  And I noted, “This survey proves that where schools provide genuine two-way, credible, ongoing communication, they are held in higher esteem than others we have seen who do not communicate on a regular basis.”

Of course, some key elements in the above descriptions are critical to make all this as great as it sounds. These key words and phrases that describe winning communication programs are:

•   Open and honest

•   Transparent communication

•   Opportunities for dialogue and dissent

•   Proactive

•   Genuine, two-way, and ongoing

We have seen communication programs not work or even backfire because they did not contain these elements or because they chose to focus on the wrong things such as attempting to sing the praises of their Boards and administrators. Our communication focus must remain on the key work of our schools — teaching and learning, and providing a culture of communication at all levels to help our staff excel. By doing just that, our school boards and administrators will also reap the praise of the great system they have built.

In our next Always Something, we will look at one of the surprising results of the survey – the low ranking of social media by parents as an everyday official school communication tool. We are still scratching our heads about that one.

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

 

Anticipation: Key Role of the PR Pro

 The ability to anticipate is one of the key characteristics of great public relations people.

 Seeing things before they happen will make you a valuable asset to your leadership team. Of course, some of your cabinet colleagues may say, “Geez, there she goes again. These things never happen; she’s just a worry wart.” But it only takes one avoidable public opinion incident to crash the reputation of your school district.  

Some call it “PR Vision” while others like ice hockey star Wayne Gretzky called it, “Skating to where the puck will be.” Valued PR people always scan for the issues, or for local practices that can surface and hurt the reputation of their entire district. 

The Cheating Issue Is One Example

Just look at the cheating issue that is surfacing in school districts at a time when we need more support from all our publics. It is a PR issue you need to anticipate now. If your cabinet members are of the oh-it-will-never-happen-here mindset, shake them up with some fake print headlines or teasers for local broadcasts with  Superintendent Smith Has No Idea How Cheating Occurred; Testing Chief Resigns Amid Cheating Scandal; Students Say Cheating on State Tests Rampant at Clark High, Superintendent and Board Say No Cheating Safeguards Were Put in Place.  

What safeguards have you implemented? What do your policies say about action taken if employees or students cheat? Have you recently reminded staff that cheating is a “zero tolerance” issue in your district? Have you communicated the way you are safeguarding against cheating with your parent and key communicator community? 

Be Proactive on Issues with Your Boss

Throughout the year, give a heads-up to your superintendent on issues or procedures that must be fixed before they become problems. Some staff members will say “it is none of your business.” While, frankly, from my standpoint, it is one of the best things you can do to protect the reputation of your school district.  

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

Transform PR into Public Relationships

What’s in a Name? 

About 5 years ago, I actually attempted to start a process for changing the name of the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) to the National School Public Relationship Association. (Also NSPRA). 

Well, as trial balloons go, this one was quickly grounded. As one NSPRA Board member told us, it sounded like we were offering a “dating service.”  

To me, the eventual name change would have better communicated what the goal of our work really is: to build healthy, credible, two-way relationships with all our key internal and external audiences. At least evident to me, the name change would help us in a number of ways: 

• It would help us rid ourselves of the negative connotations of PR. You know the people who just say PR is spin doctoring, and you’re just saying anything to cover up the truth to get you through confrontational situations or making the select few (bosses) look good, etc. Just do some quick “man-on-the-street” interviews and ask people what PR is. The answers you receive will probably be a lot more negative than the ones I listed. 
• It would help demonstrate that PR is more than publicity, just one of the many functions practiced by our professionals. Yet many people still believe that is the core function of the PR office. In recent NSPRA membership surveys, generating publicity is receiving less attention and time on task that 5 years ago, and much less than 10 years ago. 
• It would concretely communicate upfront that relationship building is at the foundation of our work. 

Right now, when people ask me about NSPRA, I quickly explain that we are in the relationship-building business. I note that we still support and provide training and assistance for all the functions of a comprehensive communication and public relations office, but credible relationship building is a major function of the office. 

So when people ask you what a school PR person does for a living, tell them that you are in the public relationship-building business. They may start understanding what you do for a living and why it’s so important for the ongoing support of your schools. 

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

 

 

Authentic Communication Builds Trust

“The trouble with quotes from the Internet is that you never know if they are genuine.” ─ Abraham Lincoln

Chuck Becker, an e-communication consultant who now works with NSPRA, shared the above quote with me the other day. He knows that I enjoy using quotes to help tell a story, and he certainly hit the credibility nail on the head when it comes to using Internet sources. (Of course, I guess there could be a number of current people who are named Abraham Lincolns.)

Misusing quotes is just one credibility problem. Here are a few other problems we see happening more often than in the past:

• Too often, it seems that some people cherry-pick the jewels of an article and use them, out of context, to help them make their point. Or they glean information from an Internet source without even confirming original sources or worse yet, without checking who funded the reported article or study. Before we start using information because it is a great fit for our persuasive articles, we need to do our best to learn its origin and funding sources.

For example, a survey of a taxpayer’s revolt group may only ask leading and biased questions about cutting the budget without ever asking residents whether they feel that paying a bit more to save their child’s programs would be a choice for them and their community. We see too many seemingly “overnight” organizations that are created to hide the funders and influencers about issues.

As a precaution, it is always appropriate to ask about the funding of these organizations (follow the money) and what the original survey questions were as well as the survey methodology to help you understand how credible the work really is. Now in a democracy, anyone has the right to give their opinions. It is the media’s role to check the truth of people’s rhetoric and point out discrepancies, but media’s budget cuts have diminished the “watchdog” roles of the past. It is now up to leaders like NSPRA’s members to point out what’s real and credible for their constituents.  It can be a tricky, shadow-boxing move to step into these rather political situations, but the truth needs to be told and your leadership team needs to feel empowered to do it.

• The second example deals with school leaders establishing and maintaining trust with their staff and key publics. Many studies and reports give guidance, but my recommendation for the best recent treatment is The Speed of Trust, The One Thing That Changes Everything, by Stephen M.R. Covey. (By the way, Stephen M.R. is the son of Stephen R. Covey of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People fame.)

The book is a blueprint of setting values, building relationships at all levels, and walking the talk when it comes to core values of your leaders and organization. In our work in school communication, it naturally converts to the face-to-face and engagement tactics of building trust with community leaders, parents, and staff.

The book also answers the question of gaining trust back once you’ve lost it. It can be done, but it’s a long, uphill road. Two quotes by both Coveys help paint that picture:

“You can’t talk yourself out of a problem you’ve behaved yourself into.” ─  Stephen R. Covey

“No, but you can behave yourself out of a problem you’ve behaved yourself into … and often faster than you think!”   ─  Stephen M.R. Covey

The real bottom line of the trust issue deals with the behavior of your leaders at all levels (superintendency, school board, principalship, teacher association and other employee groups, etc.) and whether they have developed a culture of mutual trust in your system. Communication is the ingredient needed to help create that culture of trust.

All your critical constituents need to know your system’s values and what they stand for in the everyday operation of your schools. The behavior of your leaders showcased by effective communication should remind your constituents that your district is the one to trust when it comes to the education of all children in your community.  Without authentic responsible communication, the Internet will once again fill the void created by school leaders who do not communicate on a regular, credible and strategic basis.

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

The Brookings Survey on Communication Says . . .

 If NSPRA were to do a national study on communication patterns between our schools and our publics, we would probably ask the following questions:

 With the evolving mix of old and new media, how do Americans get information about elementary and secondary schools? How do they rate the performance of various content providers? What topics deserve additional attention? How would viewers and readers like to get information about schools in the future? And how do consumer differences in age, gender, race, income, region, and parental status affect their views about these issues?

 Read the Full Report 

 The good news is that thanks to the Brookings Institute and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that national study has just been completed. You can review the summary results and then download the full study by going to Americans Want More Coverage of Teacher Performance and Student Achievement. It is clearly a must read for those in our profession. (As an aside, it will be interesting to see how these results stack up against the survey now being completed by NSPRA members who are participating in our Communication Accountability (CAP) survey. Results will be given at our San Antonio Seminar this July.)

 My observations from being in this field for many years are:

•  The study confirms what most NSPRA members know: face-to-face communications still ranks the highest when parents and others want to learn more about their schools. Family and friends with their personal networks were the highest news provider as well as the most highly regarded news source. Keeping a focus on opportunities to interact with key opinion leader networks, and staff at all levels needs to remain a top priority no matter the changes brought by technology. Tech messages are obviously more credible when the source is known and respected. That’s why we have always urged key district leaders to get to know staff and key community leaders in a face-to-face fashion.  
• The second top source, school publications, proves that our publics want school information from us. That’s why cutting communication is like committing suicide as communication is one of the best vehicles we have to build understanding and support. And what do we need now in this era of economic strife? –  more understanding and support. Newspapers followed a close second in rank order, but there was a considerable drop in local TV, community groups, national TV, radio, and social networking devices. My hunch is that it all depends on the credibility of the communication vehicle. 
• We need to start giving our constituents, parents and general public alike, the kind of content they are requesting. The survey found that there is a mismatch between what people want to know about education and they are reading and hearing in the media. The report urged the media to take a new look at the topics in the next bullet. In other words, we are asking them to provide more stories beyond the politics and watch-dog investigative piece about cafeteria food, children missing bus stops because they were sleeping and reacting to parent complaints about walking distance changes to their local schools. I understand that some leaders and teacher groups may not want to cover some of the most-requested topics, but for accountability measures, it is time to do so. We need to work with media to help them cover the content items listed in the next bullet. But with the media’s staffing and budget constraints, it is an uphill battle. That’s why we need to more on these topics ourselves. The report even notes that “There is a great desire, especially among parents, for more information from the schools themselves. Parents want schools to keep in touch with them. Schools need to communicate not only on day-to-day issues, as they do now, but also on thornier policy questions related to curriculum, teacher performance and student achievement.”  
• More report findings: Large majorities wanted more news about teacher performance (73 percent), followed by student academic performance (71 percent), school crime or violence (69 percent), school curricula (68 percent), school finances (66 percent), and school reform (66 percent). My opinion is that many of these measures need to be presented in ways that take into account more than test scores of students and the staff who teach them. We need to demonstrate the characteristics of what makes a great school and a great teacher and report on the evaluation process used in our schools to pinpoint weaknesses and the actions we take to improve our schools and staff. By noting that you have 600 teachers in your system and ten were not renewed, says that your district is accountable without naming individuals  in your district.  
• Somewhat surprising to me was that newspapers, beyond family and friends, remained the single most important source of education news. This was even true for younger populations who wanted more news about schools. So a breaking news item from this report is that newspapers are not yet dead and are needed. If we ask this same question five years from now, the e-news or web-news edition of the same papers may find themselves in this second-place spot. Credibility still comes with established journalists, and that is a characteristic lacking in some other segments of the newer e-publishing world. 
• The report also gives us a snapshot of differences in regions of the country, race, gender, parents versus non-parents, and economic levels. Except for a few minor exceptions, little differences came into play when looking at ways communication works between the schools and their communities. 
• One point along demographic lines did stand out. The report notes that “Non-whites were more interested in improving access to education news through the use of cell phone texts by school (42 versus 30 percent), Facebook (46 versus 35 percent), newspapers sending email alerts (65 versus 52 percent), and cell phone messages (40 versus 18 percent). In our work completing communication audits around the country, we hear district leaders tell us that the equity issue comes into play when communicating as many of their students and parents do not have access to communication technology. These findings report differently. 
• The report also notes that as schools consider how to communicate with parents, they need to take into account different levels of access to the new technologies between the affluent and the less well-off. The extent to which poorer Americans rely on cell phones for basic information was striking. The family-and-friends networks on school issues seem stronger among the more affluent than the less affluent. The report recommends, “Schools should consider working with community organizations and religious congregations to strengthen these informal networks of information among parents of their poorer students – especially since these informal networks, as our survey found, are vital and trusted sources of knowledge about the schools.”  

Time to Take Some Action  

Again, we urge you to read the full report. Do you think the findings ring true for your school community? The only way you will know is to ask.

 Do start thinking about an editorial content calendar to focus on some of the “thornier issues” mentioned n the report. And do talk to your local media about the report. See if there is some common ground so their readers and your community can start receiving the credible information they are after. 

Do make sure that all your district decision makers are aware of the value placed on district communications to parents and the general community. Without it, there would be a disastrous gaping hole in communication in your district. And as we have always said, create a communication vacuum, and your critics will certainly be happy to quickly fill it. 

And finally thanks to the Brookings Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for undertaking and financing this study. It helps build awareness on just how critical communication is to building understanding and support for all schools and children.

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director

 

Information Is Good;Too Much, Bad; Engagement Is Best

Two great weekly resources for those of us who are serious about our field of school communication are Public Agenda Alert and New@PewResearch.org. Both regularly impart  tems of interest to school communicators and make you think about your own practice of school public relations.

This week’s Pew edition carried an article on a study completed in three cities (Macon, Philadelphia, and San Jose) to see how each city’s information systems were performing. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation asked the Monitor Institute to explore key components of local information systems with the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Some of the findings, especially in surveys conducted in the communities, were notable:

• Those who think local government does well in sharing information are also more likely to be satisfied with other parts of civic life. Those who believe city hall is forthcoming are more likely than others to feel good about: the overall quality of their community, the ability of the entire information environment of their community to give them the information that matters, the overall performance of their local government and the performance of all manner of civic and journalistic institutions. My take on this is that open communication breeds trust. 
• Broadband users are sometimes less satisfied than others with community life. That raises the possibility that upgrades in a local information system might produce more critical, activist citizens. Or it may lead to even richer information to engage the community in decision-making.
• Social media like Facebook and Twitter are emerging as key parts of the civic landscape and mobile connectivity is beginning to affect people’s interactions with civic life. Some 32% of the Internet users in the three communities combined get local news from a social networking site — 19% get such news from blogs and 7% get such news from Twitter. And 32% post updates and local news on social networking sites.
• If citizens feel empowered, communities get benefits in both directions. Those who believe they can impact their community are more likely to be engaged in civic activities and are more likely to be satisfied with their towns.

More Information May Hinder, Not Help

This week’s Public Agenda Alert commented on the study by noting that there’s no question that an open government is crucial to civic engagement – but more information alone won’t do the job.

Their caution, however, is critical to us in school communication. It is important not to fall into one of the most common misconceptions about public opinion – that more information, all by itself, will help the public make better decisions.

Just how much is too much? When you are now explaining the budget shortfalls and what all the numbers mean to parents and community members, when do you say, “It’s all there, just figure it out for yourself?” Or do you make the time to guide interested citizens through the pages of information to help them understand these documents and the impact it will have for the children of your district?

Prepare for a Learning Curve on Issues

The dilemma continues as Public Agenda refers to Dan Yankelovich’s body of knowledge mentioning that the public has a learning curve on complicated problems. He has taught us that a lack of information can derail a policy or a budget. So can lots of other things: a lack of practical choices, mistrust, denial or just lack of urgency about the problem. He claims that all these things can get in the way, even when there is plenty of information on the topic.

Yankelovich notes that our publics need a way to sort out all the information and make sense of it. Public Agenda notes that the “put it out there and let people figure it out” is a good start as the Pew research demonstrates. But it’s only part of what’s really needed for change.

More engagement, dialogue and participation are needed to really solve the fiscal problems our schools are now facing. And that’s why school districts need communication professionals and other leaders to lead the way in developing strategies and tactics to engage more staff, students, parents, citizens, business leaders, and others in solving the fiscal problems we now face.

Rich Bagin, APR

NSPRA Executive Director