Transcript Planning an Effective Communications Campaign

Planning an Effective
Communications Campaign
The Presentation:
Tips and Tactics you can use for:
- Ongoing Communication with your
community
- Talking points regarding the proposed
Amendment Items
Getting Started
Four Steps to Effective Communication:
-
Research
Planning
Implementation, and
Evaluation
Each is integral for ANY communications campaign
Research
Provides the facts and talking points for any
communications campaign
Research done well, takes some time.
What can we do to arm ourselves with the
facts (when there is no time to do original
research)?
- OPR (Other People’s Research)- Newspaper/TV Opinion
Polls, Phi Delta Kappa-Gallup Annual Surveys, Focus
Groups
Planning
You need to determine:
- Precise and Measurable Goals
- Who are your Audiences?
Parents, Staff, Seniors, Elected officials, “TwentySomethings,” Unaffiliated Voters, Non-School Age
Households, Organized Labor, Homeowners Associations,
Businesses and Allied Groups.
- How can They be Reached?
- Who is an Effective Speaker?
- What is the Timeline/Calendar of Events?
Planning
Make a list of all upcoming events in which you can
have a presence.
Create opportunities if none exist (Open Houses,
Town Hall Meetings)
Put together “information packets” for your schools to
distribute on “Open House” nights. Use all types of
media; including print, audio and visual.
Provide training for key elected officials, district staff
and community leaders who are willing to “debate”
the issues at public forums. Community leaders serve
as excellent impartial third parties!
Planning
Prepare “Op-Ed” essays and distribute them to
EVERY group that has a newsletter, web site, or
communication channel of some sort. Don’t ignore
new technologies such as viral marketing. This will be
the year when Gen Xers come out to vote.
Customize messages for the audience
Engage enlightened businesses and get them to
advocate this position to their employees and
customers.
Consider purchasing media through “PACs.”
Implementation
Plan the Work; Work the Plan
Schedule Activities to Build Momentum
Evaluation
The most effective method of evaluating success is
Election Day Results.
If this is an ongoing campaign, mechanisms need to
be developed to monitor progress towards building
public confidence.
Conduct occasional polling, perhaps in conjunction
with other community groups.
Engage higher education in research efforts
Be careful to understand the difference between
feedback and scientific data.
Remember
No matter how you “spin it,” we are only as
good as our lowest achieving student.
The challenge remains to maintain public
trust as we serve all our children.
We must make 100% believers out of our
public. Otherwise, the same challenges to our
governance will come back again in the form
of a different question.
Talking Points for Amendment 5
The Florida Constitution requires each and every
proposed amendment to state the financial impact of
the proposed item. This proposed amendment would
create a tax loop hole of $9 billion without a clear
plan as to how the shortfall would be made up.
The title of the proposed amendment does not inform
voters of its chief purpose, and suggests that it is just
about school property taxes.
The Plan forces the largest tax increase on the state
in exchange for a property tax cut that most won’t
see.
Talking Points for Amendment 5
The proposed amendment will create uncertainty
within the small business community. No one knows
how much the sales tax rate will increase or what
services will be taxed.
There is across the board opposition to this proposed
amendment from agriculture, education, business
and health-care, indicating that broad concerns with
the initiative.
There is a lack of transparency, the true impact is not
known
Talking Points for Amendment 7
The title of the proposed amendment “Religious Freedom,” is
misleading. It suggests that it creates a safeguard for religious
freedom when, in fact, that safeguard already exists in the state
constitution.
Unlike public schools, Amendment 7 does not require that
private and religious schools be held accountable for the use of
the tax money. That would be left to the Legislature which, thus
far, has been reluctant to impose accountability measures on
private institutions receiving public tax dollars.
Many believe the passage of Amendment 7 would violate one of
the basic tenets of the American Democratic system which is the
separation of church and state.
Talking Points for Amendment 9
These proposed amendments will limit public
schools’ ability to provide the foundation that supports
the classroom teacher.
The 65% proposal is an attempt to draw attention
away from the fact that Florida’s public schools are
woefully under funded. By pretending to do
something to help by mandating 65% of funding go to
instructional needs, backers hope nobody will notice
that Florida remains one of the lowest states in per
pupil funding.
65% of inadequate is still INADEQUATE!
Talking Points for Amendment 9
No one knows how the legislature will define “in the classroom
funding.” The last time they did this the discussion excluded
such essential personal and services such as school nurses,
counselors, librarians, transportation, food service, teacher
training and curriculum, administration, and plant operation and
maintenance. If the "65% proposal" were enacted, all of these
areas would be seriously damaged by budget cuts.
The 65% proposal sounds to good to be true, because it is. This
proposal lays the groundwork for the argument that schools
wouldn’t need more money if they just use existing funding more
efficiently.
Talking Points for Amendment 9
While education experts agree that teachers deserve
to be paid more and that we need better funded
classrooms if schools have to shift money around,
they will be trading one set of problems for another.
Local school boards strongly oppose the 65% rule
because it’s a rigid one-size fits all mandate that
creates red tape for schools and takes local control
away from communities. School board members are
elected by their communities because they are in the
best position to decide what local schools need.
Talking Points for Amendment 9
It is unknown how this proposed amendment will affect charter
schools. However, the proposal does raise some interesting
questions about how charter schools would comply especially if
the Florida School of Excellence Commission, rather than the
local school board, approved the charter application.
65% means that some school districts will have to privatize
school services and turn them over to for-profit companies. This
means that school bus drivers, security guards, secretaries and
others will become minimum wage jobs with high turnover and
these folks won’t get to know our kids.
For More Information and
Brainstorming, please contact:
Merrie Meyers-Kershaw,APR, Fellow PRSA
Director, Parents, Business and Community Partnerships
Broward County Public Schools
(754) 321-1970
[email protected]