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Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2003
Communicating education takes public involvement
by Jane Urschel
Jane Urschel is associate executive director and lobbyist for the Colorado Association of School Boards. These remarks are edited from her July 11, 2003, presentation to the Council of School Board Association Communicators conference in Denver.
Just before the legislative session opened in January, knowing the session would be a killer, I decided to get in a little skiing.
On a chairlift at Keystone, I overheard this conversation between a young man and woman: "My friend is going to graduate school to become a lobbyist."
"Cool, what kind of training do you need to be a lobbyist?"
"Oh, you know, it's James Bond stuff. I mean it's so espionage!"
I nearly fell out of the chair ... I couldn't agree more! We are talking about surveillance, spying and stakeouts! Watching who has coffee with whom, who enters and exits whose office.
But to understand what we value today, we first should look at the issues: state budgets, state taxation codes, school finance acts.
For the third year straight, state and local governments across the country are dealing with weak revenues, rising expenses and the prospect of enormous budget deficits. Texas had to wrestle with a $19 billion deficit, California's shortfall is as large as $38 billion.
State legislators and governors have been stuck between two vocal groups: one side would raise taxes to save jobs and services, the other side thinks the deficits stem from a decade-long spending binge and that cutting jobs is the way to go.
Both sides are wrong, says Business Week. There is no evidence that state and local spending is out of control. Why? Because states and cities are spending on the things the people want: education, public safety, medical care. But must we let people out of jail early to keep kids in school longer?
Add to this our federal issues: No Child Left Behind and IDEA, both involve spending mandates. NCLB is the most highly regulatory scheme we have ever seen from the federal government. The effects of the standards of NCLB are the reverse of the Lake Woebegone Syndrome ... all the schools are below average and in need of improvement. Why do we have this law? Because there was no communication, because there was no advocacy!
The larger issue here is choice. Choice writ large is the value of consumerism; entrepreneurial capital; investment in my future, not yours; investment in my children, not other people's children. We have made the consumer the king! Consequently, the lines are blurring between what is public and what is private. We are transforming public education from a public good into a private good.
We are witnessing and participating in the Pepsi-ization of public education! We are privatizing public education, not just with soda pop deals, but with our growing free-market education reforms.
Choice is like fire, a wonderful servant but a terrible master. Will we awake one day to find that choice has consumed the public's assets and has become the master of the fate of the public's schools?
What do we do? How do we reconcile two great American values: democracy and capitalism ... public and private?
School board challenges
I want to suggest three major challenges for boards of education and those who advise them in effective communications:
First, we are losing the public. The challenge is how do we make allies of rivals? To understand this first challenge, we need to be aware of the historic rivalries and partnerships that evolved in public education.
In the 19th Century, parents left their farms to go to work in shops or factories, and their children went off to the common school to learn. The schools were built in the center of the community often following the architectural design of the town's churches. The idea was to "weave the school deeply into the social fabric" of the community.
Schools became public as state governments gained influence and passed laws controlling more and more of the child's day. Often there were struggles between the social units of parents, churches and businesses and those governmental authorities that eventually prevailed by passing laws to institutionalize the school and create a school system. Over the decades each wave of school reform shaped the schools as "creatures of the state."
As we did that, we created a governmental system of schools ... the district. And we aligned and allied ourselves with state and federal governments. It was a loose, uneasy alliance but one nonetheless, and it was an appropriate alliance.
Today we have the state and federal governments competing with our district system, our local government, for control of our classrooms.
I am not suggesting that there is not a role for state and federal government; our system of government is not a layer cake but a marble cake. However, today we are seeing the local ingredient diminish. The system is deteriorating because the local school board is not showing what value it adds to teaching and learning.
The second challenge for our political entity is funding. How much do we need to sustain a public system and where will it come from? It can only come from the public. No public, no public education funding.
In our democracy, government exists to help create the "good life." Consider the agony of your state legislators in recent legislative sessions over the dire budget needs. The Colorado legislature cut every man, woman and child's quality of life. They cut health care, nursing home beds, driver's licenses, higher education, senior citizen needs, police and fire protection, even water supplies.
To understand what happens when basic needs are absent, we should look at Iraq in its post-war chaos. Citizens there lament, "Yes, we are glad to see Saddam's regime go and democracy come, but, at least, with Saddam we had lights, water and hospitals." Government is about the good life. It is about ensuring liberty, prosperity, equality and community, and those things require tax support.
The third challenge: Rather than seeing ourselves as the center of the community or the universe as we once were, we need to help boards of education look through the lens of the state ... our democratic republic, our democratic society ... and ask what does the state need from public education?
What do schools need to do to provide the skills for the "good life?" And what does "the state" need in return?
The state needs:
These are the purposes of public education. These are for the good of our democracy ... they are political!
Robert Reich said, "The truth is, nothing happens in government unless citizens demand that it happen. The real re-knitting of the social fabric has to begin where the threads are ... where you and I are. That requires, at bottom, that you and I and millions like us get involved."
That involvement comes through advocacy. But how do we put a face on advocacy?
Building relationships
"All fundamental problems are at their core, problems of relationships," said David Mathews. "It follows, then, that all real solutions consist of reordering relationships."
The truth is most people don't want to do this ... form a relationship with state legislators. School board members are the worst! They consider themselves way above the snake pit of politics.
How do we build and reorder relationships? It's about a cup of coffee, about listening, looking into the eyes of a school board representative or a legislator or a congressional member. We can change the world by changing how we talk and how we listen. It's about teaching them. That's what advocacy is ... teaching, and saying, "Why not?" It's about being human to them.
Jennifer James, a well-known cultural anthropologist, talks about how we bridge the gap in this communication age between high tech and high touch. People want to talk. There is a strong human capacity to create a new social order through dialogue. Policymakers along with the rest of our society are hungry for dialogue, discussion and deliberation. Democracy begins with conversation, not elections.
A lobbyist has gone from being "someone you hire to protect you from someone you elect," to today's effective lobbyist who is seen as a teacher, a communicator, a negotiator and a motivator.
The single most powerful force in state lobbying is "the influence of those living and working in the district of each elected legislator." Today's power lobbying means putting legislators on an "individualized lobbying plan."
The analogy for educators is to see legislators as we see students. The legislative body becomes a diverse student body. Lobbyists and other "subject-matter" experts exist as faculty who teach students a specific topic and a "defense" of a position, "cramming" their students' heads with facts, arguments, and reason, preparing them for the tests of floor debate and negotiation.
School board members should approach the Capitol with the same comfort level as they approach the schools and create an "individualized lobbying plan," an ILP, for their legislators.
The first step is to build a trusting relationship with the legislator. To become a "legislative tutor," get to know the "student" back home in the district. Form a relationship by simply calling up the representative or senator and ask them out for coffee. This is a time to get to know them as people and not a time to teach them. In fact, let them teach by talking about why they ran for office and what they hope to accomplish. Ask questions like, "How do you feel about NCLB?"
Once a trusting relationship is established with a legislator in private, enjoy that relationship in public, say, at the Capitol.
The second step involves becoming a reliable and trustworthy resource for a legislator. Help legislators get a handle on a problem by sharing the "real world" effects of proposals. One legislator put it this way: "One of the best ways to get a handle on a problem is to relate it to my district. I take the concept back and talk with a doctor or a teacher and let them tell me how it would affect them practically."
Make problems come alive. Show the affects of legislation by putting a face on it for a legislator.
Remember, however, that the integrity of words and commitment to confidentiality will be tested throughout this new relationship. A person's word must be impeccable if he or she wants to have any credibility with legislators.
Step three is planning a visit: Who to visit? When to visit? Where to visit? How to make the appointment?
Go where they are and observe ... sit in galleries ... attend committee hearings ... get a feel for their policymaking environment.
Prioritize visits to begin with supporters of a legislative issue. Direct the greatest amount of time on the undecided majority party members and then the minority party members. Don't forget to lobby the chair of the committee of first referral for a bill. Do not spend time visiting lawmakers who strongly oppose the bill. Send them letters that describe why the bill is good for the state and for their constituents.
Try to meet with legislators early before the opposition to a bill meets with them. Obtain a legislative calendar showing when legislators are in their home districts or at the Capitol. Calendars show when lawmakers should be in committee, in full session or in the office.
Visit lawmakers in places to get their attention: in their home districts, at the Capitol, social gatherings, conventions or take them to lunch.
Schedule appointments with lawmakers before the legislature goes into session, early in the session, or when there is a lull in the session. A few days before the appointment date, confirm the meeting time and briefly reiterate issues to discuss.
Step four is lobbying by testimony. Legislators appreciate testimony given in committee from people in the field. This is the opportunity to tell a story on the "factory floor of the legislative process." When testifying, be brief and to-the-point. Prepare what to say, but try not to read from a printed page. Use examples to illustrate points about how bills will actually affect students. Tell the truth. If you don't know, say so. Be yourself.
Step five is lobbying by telephone. Telephoning a legislator can be an effective way of persuasion. Callers should identify themselves by name, address, hometown and school district. Identify the bill in question by number. Briefly state a position on the bill and the position desired from the legislator. Ask for the legislator's position on the bill. Thank the legislator for past votes. Use voice mail, too. Find out how a legislator wants to be communicated with ... some prefer e-mail, even videoconferencing ... but nothing is as effective as face to face.
Step six offers a most important goal: arrange for legislators to get back in the classroom. Bring civics back to life by inviting legislators to visit classrooms. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) sponsors "America's Legislators Back to School Week," usually in September. NCSL provides resource and marketing materials to legislators, schools, teachers and the media.
Legislators have a strong effect on the personal lives of educators. Their policies influence all aspects of teaching and learning. Become a legislative tutor; develop an "ILP" for representatives and senators. Lobbying is teaching legislators about issues and the facts needed to convince them to support a desired view rather than that of the opposition.