DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 041 397 EA 002 960

TITLE Communication Ideas in Action.INSTITUTION National School Public Relations Association,

Washington, D.C.PUB DATE 70NOTE 63p.AVAILABLE FROM National School Public Relations Association, 1201

Sixteenth Street, N.W.1 Washington, D.C. 20036(Stock No. 411-12762 $3.00)

EDRS PRICEDESCRIPTORS

EDRS Price MP-$0.50 HC Not Available from EDRS.*Communications, Community Schools, EducationalFinance, Emergency Programs, *Human Relations,Minority Groups, *Public Relations, School BudgetElections, *School Community Relationship, *TeacherAdministrator Relationship, Urban Schools

ABSTRACTThis report advises school systems of the numerous

public relations resources available and challenges schools to putcommunication ideas into action. The ideas described, based onexhibits prepared by selected school systems at the invitation of theNSPRA, have been developed in many different types of schooldistricts across the country. The cases described include a teacherrepresentative assembly formed in Fremont, California, to overcomethe suspicions and mistrust among teachers generated byconsolidation; a special campaign in Grove City, Iowa, to promote asuccessful Federally financed project: an emergency planning programin Minneapolis, Minnesota, that gives individual schools a backupteam from the central staff and an overall effort in the Bronx, NewYork, to create a true community school within the boundaries of aneighborhood fractured by poverty and language barriers. (Author/UR)

I

4

A

11

ti

II

_

.

,..),

1

i, t. . .,

, , :Alt, ... .

w., .

, i. 1- J

. t,fr'r , -. ..

0

O

O

)774. /:

4

I

m..711,,""

unication eas in Gtion

U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION& WELFARE

FRCE OF EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCEDEXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON ORORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT POINTS OFVIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECES-SARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU-CATION POSITION OR POLICY

PROCESS WITH MICROFICHEAND PUBLISHER'S PRICES.MICROFICHE REPRODUCTIONONLY.

a Ae

. MI4te

rOW./

1,;AN

/4111 timm=siesw74 -11

1.ki _at4 ..A.a. -, 1.1

te".;:-lc, .4tA \II I 11 '1 1 -Ale--f ....... ...

). i rio.,.._.,a

6.100A1111010,

dosimmiittANC

Copyright 1970National School Public Relations Association1201 Sixteeilth Street, N.V.Washington, D.C. 20036

Library of Congress Catalog No. 70-123201

Single copy, $3. Quantity orders: 2 to 9 copies,$2.70 each; 10 or more copies, $2.40 each.Stock No. 411-12762. Postage free if prepaid.Address communications and make checks payableto the National School Public RelationsAssociation, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N.V.,Washington, D.C. 20036.

Permission to reproduce this copyrighted work has been

granted to the Educationai Resources information Center(ERIC) and to the organization operating under contractwith the Office of Education to reproduce documents in-cluded in the ERIC system by means of microfiche only,but this right is not conferred to any users of the micro-fiche received from the ERIC Document ReproductionService. Further reproduction of any part require' per-mission of the copyright owner.

111

iif

Contents

Introduction 5

Personalizing a Big System (Fremont, Calif.) 7

Emergency Planning: A New Necessity(Minneapolis, Minn.) 13

Project Fair Share: A Statewide Public RelationsCampaign (California) ..... .. .............. ........ ..... ..... . 21

Feeling the Community Pulse (Columbus, Ohio) . 29

How To Push a Good Thing (Grove City, Ohio) 37

Tender, Loving Care of a Community School(New York City) 43

Creative Shoptalk (Hartford, Conn.) ... ...... .. ..... .... .. .......... 51

The Public Makes a Choice (Montgomery County, Md.) ... 57

Thanks 64

t

Introduction

The word communication implies action. Thoseresponsible for school communication are accustomed tothinking of the major share of their activity in termsof paperworknews releases, reports, brochures, agendafor meetings. These certainly form the basis for schoolpublic relations, but a communication idea in actionasthe experiences described in this booklet illustratecan go considerably beyond paperwork and be much morerewarding for doing so.

Examples of communication ideas in action are ateachers assembly that overcomes the divisions caused byconsolidation; a special campaign to promote asuccessful federally financed project; emergency planningthat gives individual schools a backup team from thecentral staff; or an overall effort to create a true communityschool out of a neighborhood fractured by poverty anda language barrier.

The communication ideas described in this booklet arebased upon exhibits prepared by selected school systemsat the invitation of the National School Public RelationsAssociation (NSPRA ). They were developed in manydifferent types of school districts across the country. Eachdistrict solved its problems in a unique way.

NSPRA's purpose in publishing this report is to informschool systems of the myriad of public relationsresources available to themand to challenge them toput communication ideas into action.

*1.0.01117M

a.

.3

4P,se

Personalizing a

Big. SystemFor many years the American school sys-tem has befin4etting bigger =and smaller.Over the past decade a special' effort has.been made to reduce the number of schooldistricts' in the' country. Between 1960and, 1p7 the number of district unitsdropped rom 40,520 to 18,904. Themove to consolidate_ districts involvesmore than economy. Larger school dis-tricts, according to administration experts,can provide better quality and a broaderrange of education for their. students.,Usually transition to larger units has beenachieved relatively easily; often it hasmeant phasing out tiny elementary-onlydistricts er merely transferring the taxrecords of nonoperating districts.; 1,r/genconsolidation moves to the suburbanfringes, howez:er, the problems are greater.Traumatic as the consolidation may. een?'to parents and students, usually it is tl.?eteaching itaff which is most 'd ectly af-fected and concerned about ts securityand role in the new,. iar systepz: As

i the Fremont Unified Di' Pict of Fremont,,California, learned, nsition created acommunications , tsand a resultantlong-range'solu n that is making theschool system rover than ever and truly;unified.

Three years after the Fremont school system was createdfrom six formerly separate elementary and high schooldistricts, it was still having morale problems. Fremont, a

32,000-pupil district sprawled over 100 square milesof suburban areas, had not been able to overcome thesuspicions and mistrust among teachers that had beengenerated by the consolidation.

Teachers complained of a "lack of communications."Administrators perceived the problem more as a lackof personal, face-to-face contacts, which perhaps had beenthe principal virtue of the smaller school districts.

Elementary teachers saw the new school district as beingsecondary-oriented because high school personnel weregiven key positions in the newly consolidated system.Several elementary administrators left or acceptedlesser positions when the central staff was reduced. Somehigh school teachers felt they had sacrificed a possiblesalary increase to permit elementary salaries to be raisedin accordance with a newly adopted single salaryschedule. School board meetings became angry arenas,where two teacher organizations battled for supportby requesting higher salaries and reduced class sizes.

At this point, the major element in the communicationsprogram was a staff newsletter, which cbviously neededto be improved. It was improved to the point where nowthe Fremonitor is a well--,ritten, co..icise, and regularlink between the central office and the teachers. Inaddition, the information staff prepared and distributedprofessional-level materials: recruitment brochures,orientation and teacher handbooks, and explanations ofcurriculum development. Another prescriptioncalled for a "communications committee" of teachersand administrators-12 members chosen from allgeographic sections and grade levels----to study theproblems. The very first meeting of the committeerevealed the depth of teacher concern:

8

1

"They dug vigorously into everything from lostrecords in the personnel office to the formula for figuringclass size. Each of these, along with every other irritant,was labeled a communications problem: poor contact withupper echelons, the need for sharing knowledge at andbetween grade levels, the need to involve all schoolpersonnel in policy development, and the value of anorganizational chart to spell out responsibilities inthe district."

Various recommendations came from the sometimeshot committee sessions. They included more teacherinvolvement in curriculum planning, strengthening ofin-service training, demonstration teaching teams,and a resource file of personnel who could assist otherteachers. (A high school botany teacher could helpa third-grade teacher with a science unit.) Many of thesesuggestions were put into effect.

However, the high point of the committee's work was itsplan for a teacher representative assembly. This hasbecome the main link between teachers and administration;it has dissipated the mistrust that lingered on fromconsolidation and brought the entire teaching stafftogether in an atmosphere of candor and concernfor the school district as a whole.

In the representative assembly elected teachers sit downmonthly with the superintendent to talk about anythinginvolving district policies and procedures. Complaintsagainst individuals are not allowed. The communicationscommittee established specific guidelines for theassembly, including:

It is an additional communications channel and doesnot substitute for, or operate parallel to, employeeorganization structure.It is not a policy-making committee. If action seemsappropriate on matters under discussion, a request forsuch action will be chanuled to the proper authority.

9

The assembly helps to identify concerns; it does not act

upon them.

Members represent their faculties, not organizations.There is one elected teacher representative fromeach elementary school, two from each junior high, andthree from each high school.

The meetings are informal question-and-answersessions with no written rules. Sitting in a semicirclearound the superintendent, the teachers usually firethe questions; sometimes the superintendent brings upa problem for the teachers to consider. About90 percent of the questions concern personnel problems,and a personnel representative usually attends with thesuperintendent. Teachers have asked about grievanceprocedures, types of leave, approval of coursestaken by teachers, and curriculum. They have suggestedchanges in report cards, and asked for the superintendent'sreactions to recommendations from committees onwhich they have served.

Complete minutes of the meetingsmultilithed onattention-getting pink papergo to every teacherand administrator. Questions not answered at the meetingare answered in the minutes; questioners are identifiedonly as "members," not by name. Typical excerpts fromsome meetings:

Member: Are employees given preferential considerationwhen other jobs open up in the district?

Superintendent: The board's direction is to get the bestperson for the position, and preference will be givento people already on the staff.

C_../-6

Superintendent: I'd like to review the recent problemsinvolved with a play, "Little Black Sarnbo," whichwas scheduled to be presented at one of our elementary

10

schools. (There follows a thorough explanationof the complaints and the procedure that was used.)My purpose in bringing this to your attention isto make certain that al .,. teachers are aware of the factthat a policy does exist and is followed whencomplaints about them and/or materials used are made.

,.........

Member: Is there a teachers dress code?

Superintendent: No. Should there be?

In the beginning, teachers were suspicious of boththe communications committee and the assembly. Somethought they would bypass the standing teacherorganizations and become a rubber stamp foradministrative decisions. Officers of teacher organizationsturned out for the first few meetings; observers arewelcome. The superintendent and communicationscommittee members met individually with leadingteachers and organization officers to assure them that thegoal was informal communicationnothing more.The superintendent stated that he felt the assembly wouldstrengthen, rather than undermine, organizationpositions.

Criticism altered to a wait-and-see attitude, and finallyalmost disappeared. After just one year of the assemtly'sexistence a questionnaire to every faculty membershowed the benefits and the trust produced by thiscommunications idea; agreement to continue theasssembly was almost unanimous. In fact, teachers didnot want to change it in any way.

Ironically, the only major objections came from someadministrators, who, according to another administrator,"view the assembly as occasionally embarrassing,especially when a question arises because someone alongthe line slipped up on a routine communication practice."

11

I

_

^ .......

_ _..

---N

4\

A

** 4.

i'. '

ne,

4.4)

"141,1111111,16617,...\

1

-

Al

4,

e

°

lwt

e

:as

Emergency

: Aa

New- Nece§sity.

In the old days school systems developedemergency plans for such natural occiir-revices as fires and snowstorms. There,were set patterns for coping with theseemergencies and a desire on the part ofeveryone involved o cooperate and help.But the end.oPhe 1960's school sys-tems began to face unprecedented. crisissituations: hostile s ents and sometimesaggressive teac ers, at-7-5-ituationsthat.coufrar rup at any neat, con-frontations between groups of de endingstudents and caught-in-the-middle sc ofadministrators, and angry parents wittheir own ideas for solutions: Obviously,the pat emergetcy planning that served-chool a:dmina'Arators in the past wouldn'twork now, Yet to be faced wi*2,volatile.student unrestas more .tha 2 0schools in the 1 oo year Were:with_Dut some procedures to handle itopens. the way to chaos and long-lastingreseni?n.ent against the school syitenz. The

'Minneapolis school system' developed aunique and ',well-conceived way of meet-ing such emergencies. It is a last resort,however, in an' overall policy of the schoolsystem to prevent such crisekthrough con-sistent community, relations se4ices.

,A I

IMinneapolis, the larger of the Twin °ties with a school

enrollment of 69,000, has experienced a steady increasein its minority sradent population since 1964. Although itis still relatively smallonly about 10 percent Negroand Indianhousing patterns have concentrated morethan 90 percent of the minority students in only25 percent of the schools.

A citizens committee endorsed the school board's

established ratio for minority students in 1967.( An elementary school is racially imbalanced if it has

more than 20 percent of minority students; asecondary school must not have more than 10 percent.)The school board began to work on ways to achievethese proportionsspecial transfers, changing boundaries,voluntary transportation of students. It also studiedimprovements in the organization of instruction,recruitment and placement of teachers, minority historycourses, multiethnic materialsall steps to providegreater opportunity for all students.

Superintendent John B. Davis, Jr., appointed anassistant superintendent of schools for intergroupeducation. Specifically he is to implement the guidelines

developed on human relations. He is the carry-throughperson for programs in minority history, achieving balancein the schools, transfer policies for staff and faculty, and

identification of community concerns about intergroup

relationships.

In-service workshops began to train new and

experienced teachers on a regular basis for core-city

schools. Through a Title IV ( Civil Rights Act)grant from the U.S. Office of Education, the school

district set up a Human Relations Center whereprofessional staff work with community advisers on

14

curricula for the in-service training, community

involvement in the school programs, and preparingmaterials and speakers for human relations programs.A seminar series on human relations for teacherswas instituted for all school staff as the result of the

recommendation of a committee appointed to advise

the school system on an appropriate memorial toMartin Luther King, Jr.

All these steps were taken with the full knowledge of

the Minneapolis community, which was kept informed

by the school administration's community relations andinformation services. News releases report at lengthon each new program, and "What's New" publicationsregularly inform parents about a variety of programsgoing on in the system's 100 schools. Communityfeedback is an important part of the evaluation ofthese programs. Public meetings are scheduled toconsider long-range building programs and neweducational concepts rrposed for the schools.

As another step in the "prevention" process, thesuperintendent supported the establishment of Student

Human Relations Councils in secondary schools asrapidly as possible. Long-range plans also call for Parent

and Teacher Human Relations Councils.

Teachers and principals in the schools still needed to

know, however, what specific policies and steps were

being taken to protect buildings and personnel and whatto do in case of a real emergency. In spite of a widerange of programs to improve human relations in theschools, a few instances of an emergency nature

continued to arise. The school board and administrationthen developed set policies and circulated them to

all staff members.

15

The Minneapolis emergency plan included theseprovisions:

Every principal was directed to prepare a localbuilding plan for handling emergency situations, and theplan was to be discussed at meetings with all buildingpersonnel.

Ten observation teams were organized from thecentral office. These "flying squads" were ready to moveinto schools where potential for conflict existed, tohandle press relations and messages to parents, to patrolthe halls, and generally to help maintain order.

The school-police liaison program was expanded.Special lines of communication were establishedwith the police department through 15 liaison officers.This was done to provide instantaneous communicationbetween the schools and the police department duringemergency situations.

The school board agreed to provide legal counselfor any school employee 7.tho became a defendantin a law suit resulting from an incident which occurredduring the proper performance of duties.

It was stipulated that unauthorized persons were notto be admitted to school buildings. All visito' mustreport to the principal for permission to make. contact withstudents or teachers. Parents and guardians of studentsenrolled in the schools are always welcon' e, but they mustreport to the principal for permission to visit classes.

It was pointed out that individuals or groups wishingto express complaints or grievances must not interferewith normal processes of the school. Hearings should bebefore the principal at times when school is not insession.

16

I

1

All teachers received a packet of materials detailingschool policy and legal responsibilities relating tostudent control and the maintenance of discipline.

I An emergency telephone system was installed so thatall schools could immediately notify the central officein emergency situations. (Special phones in eachprincipal's office.)

On the few occasions when the school district used itsemergency plannir.,,, situations were kept undercontrol. The "flying squads" are particularly effective."Our main objective is to communicate directly withparents, supplying them with firsthand information,instead of relying on the news media to carry themessage for us," explained Floyd J. Amundson, consultantin school-community relations. "At the first sign oftrouble the squads from the central office move into aschool. We allow reporters and photographers inthe main office of the sch--,o1 building, but they are notallowed to travel throughout the halls or takepictures in the classrooms."

The community relations director acts as a liaison andgives statements to the press al "change" or"no change" on a regular basis. Another line ofcommunication is afforded by community and parentgroups which help with the patrolling; thus theylearn what is going on firsthand.

Observers believe that the squads from the central officeare one unifying core. They give the principals thereassurance that the central office is in touch and that it isready, willing, and able to help when a crisis develops.

In one instance, the effort by school administrators to befair to all concerned in a crisis situation was revealedin a newspaper article. It quoted the school principal's

17

sympathy for the plight of the students"Neverin all my years in education have I seen students faced withsuch major decisions." At the same time, spokesmenfrom the central office assu'ed parents that steps werebeing taken to keep control and told the reasons forsuspending certain students.

Perhaps credit for the fact that no situation in theMinneapolis schools has gone beyond control should goto their emergency planning. As true as this may be,

18

.kMrt"'1 -

...`

NI

--III

A AM16._

.M II

.1-

t

however, much of the credit must go to the school system's

commitment to positive-oriented preventive programs. Asthe superintendent summed it up:

"Our long-range mission must be to join in acommunitywide effort to get at the sources of theproblems. We know that no solutions arepossible until we provide all people with real equality,real justice, and real opportunity."

Public RelationsCampaign

Adequate financing for the nation'.. bigcity school districts is critical. There ay.multiple problems. Cities must educatean increasingly larger number of low-

' income and disadvantaged ;groupsanexpensive area, of education. Capital re -,sources ,are dwindling in the cone cities.At he same time the state legislatures,

pf.,.thenz with A.irural 0%,,ciliktrba1 .1

orientation) have failed td provide a fairshare of financial support to '74, largecities, In fact, in many states the state's

o financial contribution to° faro- cities has *decreased, while urban problems h7tve' in-creased. A few states have tried to correct'this imbalance. (Ohio and New Fork, forexample, provide special financial ',com-pensation for city schoolchildren.) Inother places individual city school ,sys-tems Chicago aiwl Minneapolis amongthemhave, taken the desperate move ofappealing directly to state legislaturepradrittianal-frands-by-suggesting their otinprograms and being politically active. InCalifornia, the situation is partiCular4acute; it.has five "major metropolitan areas,none of which is receiving a prdportion-ately fair share of the state'.eSoUrces fbr.its schoolchildren. The superintendents. ofthese cities decided torspeak as one strongloud voice.

The five largest cities of California Long Beach,Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Franciscoareresponsible for the education of one million children.California's state support of schools averages about40 percent, but in some of these urban districts it is aslow as 26 percent. The dollar squeeze creates anannual fiscal crisis for the citieswith resultant curtailededucational services, the threat of reductions in staff,and too frequent appeals to the communities for a highertax rate. And, worst of all, there is never a chanceto catch up with urgent problems.

Superintendents of the school districts serving these fiveurban areas came to the conclusion that their problem(a shortage of financing) was basically a political problemwith the Legislature and the governorand that thesolution would likewise have to be political in nature.More important, the solution that they agreed uponcentered on a public relations approach designed to makeknown the needs of California's urban area schoolsystems. In addition, they decided to prescribe an approachto meet these needs.

Spearheaded by the superintendent of the Los AngelesCity Unified School District, the group of fivesuperintendents formed an organization known as theProject Fair Share Committee. Its membershiplater was expanded to include the 30 largest schooldistricts in the statethose with enrollments ofover 30,000. Together the districts enrolled two millionchildren, almost half of the school population inthe state.

22

Ii

The Project Fair Share Committee established twoobjectives:

1. To inform the public, the governor of California,and state legislators of the urgent and critical needsof urban area schools.

2. To prepare and introduce legislation for massiveemergency aid for big city schools. The formulaadopted by the committee called for emergencylegislation amounting to $400 in new money perpupil over a four-year period. The gradualincrease would cost $173 million the first year andadvance to $703 million by the third year.

The campaign methods involved both a mass appealto the people of the state, asking for their support,and a direct appeal to the governor and Legislature forspecific help. To rally public support, Project FairShare used a massive information program with thecommunications medianewspapers, radio, andTVthroughout the state. This part of the campaignwas kicked off by a unique "flying press conference"held in the three major population centers of the stateall on the same dayby the superintendents fromthe five largest districts. As an immediate follow-up tothis, direct communication sources available to theindividual school districts were used. Parent organizationswere formed and volunteer groups were created tospread the message of need andsupport throughout eachcommunity in the Project.

23

What was the objective in massing all this publicne34- 4,J1 LL1C state to senu.

one million letters urging approval of the legislationfor special urban school aid to the governor and tothe members of the Legislature.

The second phase of the public relations campaign wasdirectly targeted at the Legislature. The five big citysuperintendents, those from the other involved schooldistricts, members of boards of education, prominentcommunity leaders, and representatives of teacher andadministrator groupsall were marshaled intomaking direct contacts with legislators for support of theProject Fair Share plan.

Significantly, the public relations staffs of the schooldistricts were brought into the planning early andat the top level. After the original five superintendentsbegan their work, they called for a meeting with alllarge school district superintendents and their "publicinformation people or other staff with communicationsand financial responsibilities." The public relationsrepresentatives decided, at the "fly-in" meeting withsuperintendents, upon a general statewide approach.Each district was to conduct its own information program,using techniques and procedures best suited for it. Allagreed upon the campaign themeProject FairShare and selected the Los Angeles schools as thestatewide coordinating unit. They also mapped out arapid-fire kick-off campaign that included in one week-

24

E The three-cities press conference

A meeting of the superintendents in Sacramento withthe governor and leaders of the Legislature

A dinner meeting at which all superintendents andstaff of the 30 districts which would benefit fromthe proposed legislation discussed plans for a statewideinformation program

A meeting with all legislators representing the areasserved by the large districts to point out to themthe crisis in the schools. (Invitations to the meetingcame from the local school districts. )

Press releases by the public relations staffs followedeach phase of the campaigr . "Bay Area LegislatorsSpearhead Campaign for Massive Aid to State UrbanAreas" (-1.scribed the bills introduced and commentsby the superintendents. Another release went out underthe title: "State Community College Board EndorsesMassive Aid to Urban Schools." There were releases ontestimony presented to the Legislature, on passage ofthe bill from the Senate committee, and on telegrams sentto legislators by superintendents and others.

The staffs also produced an information kit, which wassent to administrators of schools, colleges, and educationgroups. It included a news release, a Project Fair Sharefact sheet, samples of suggested letters, a sample ofa resolution that could be used by organizations in localcommunities, and a brochure, "California's Crisis inUrban Schools."

25

The local school districts went even further. In LosAngeles, for example, the campaign followed theorganization plans used to provide information during abond or tax rate increase election. Committees werecreated to contact community groups, urging them topetition legislators for urban school aid. Each schoolbuilding had a list of legislators for use as a reference byletter-writers. A memo was sent to all elementary,secondary, and adult school principals and all juniorcollege presidents within the system giving themnames and addresses of others to contact e.g., thegovernor and chairmen of legislative committees.The schools served as collection points for letters to theLegislature, and the public relations staff set deadlinesfor the letter-writing campaign.

Through its network of contacts, the information staffkept everyone alert to progress and a few unexpectedpitfalls. At one point, for example, the information staffhad to quickly squelch reports that the money would beused for busing for integration purposes. An explanationwent out immediately to the campaign leaders; theplan included no provisions for categorical aid.

In its first go-round with the Legislature, the urbanschool aid bill failed to get final passage. Butobservers believe that the main objective of the campaignsucceededthat the Legislature and the people ofthe state were informed, in as forceful a manner aspossible, of the critical needs of California's urbanarea schools.

"Before the campaign was initiated, no one reallythought much, or perhaps really cared, about theproblems of California's big city schools," commentedJohn A. Gillean, head of information services forthe Los Angeles schools. "Today, the situation has been

26

reversed; legislators and politicians consider it amajor state issue, and aid for urban schools is the majortopic in the halls of the Legislature. In summary, theobjective of Project Fair Share was achievedthefinancial problems of California schools are receivingserious attention."

27

_F'sww

llmlw

usJmm

m

rv.4.'

"F eling the community pulse" is a corn-.in 4nications techniqffie that has seen,'-ii,lotof .action..-It is a- standard chapter in thesc ool public rej,afions textbook; the sue,-j c:t least; one- panel discussion ats canferances; aftd one bf,rthecells- of (ply wripten potiiies on'infOrnia-,on serdziicps!,for-.individual schca, dii

eirts:;it. Olifaliihajts foe& paint'?of °,chool beca -com-

mtinity:_rppjnion -its ::iihOoksyi.tem isthe fvanleitork

telc110.5::,migi wort' The tech-.140.4ef citizeht9 , ;

in

e

!;-.WoiniaAle sa*eiLs,- special pre rami itir

forinatkitti,theat:.s4o.oleidmini3iratorittact101q1iin;14' .bond

dri-the _ynany-Olh-01: activities iizrvcl -the oboOlsNust call'upw .citizens .1

- ;. e-

. :""toollo izePer, -4,o-r-,qq4p-i touch.Columbus.,--Ohlo, :which _-.JtSecl.hood. ieniinar;s: itzite":".71,,s'sfully a .few. -

yerrs,-agro,tisoiie`cf rOui.seMinar -,Meeings in the: sPring-Of .1

,..r7

The concept in Columbus is simple enough; if there isa problem to be resolved between teacher and parent,bring them together for a chat. If the problem is betweena 109,000-student school system and a community ofnearly 600,000, organize a series of chats in 160 schoolsand call them neighborhood seminars. It worked wellfor Columbus in 1963, and it seemed good for a repeat sixyears later.

However, in addition to being a trying experience forsome administrators, the neighborhood seminars proved tobe no instant cure-all for the problems that face a bigcity school district such as Columbus. This was shownwhen the bid for approval of a $63 million bond issuefor new construction was defeated by a margin of morethan 2 to 1 only four months after the seminars ended.And yet, instead of discarding the seminars as a noble butunappreciated attempt at goodwill, Columbus schooladministrators began thinking about ways to revive andperfect the seminar approach in order to thrash outwith the community the consequences of its action atthe polls.

Deterioration in school-community understanding camelate in Columbus, a thriving urban center that is stillsmall enough to call itself the "all-American city" whilebig enough to have the nation's seventeenth largestcity school system. The Columbus schools did not beginplanning for their neighborhood seminars in early1969 in a mood of desperation. District voters had justapproved the largest tax increase in the system'shistory, at a time when other school systems across Ohiowere failing in far less ambitious bids. Yet, a surveyby an Ohio State University commission uncovered seriousconfusion in the public's mind about what the schoolswere doing and why. "Despite the generally favorableattitudes of people in Columbus toward their schools,

30

1

it would appear that there are matters about which theseattitudes might be improved if the facts were betterunderstood," the commission's report warned. Onerecommendation of Ohio State's report was that he1963 neighborhood seminars be rescheduled. To both theColumbus schools and the community they representeda calmer era. The early seminars, the most ambitiouseffort at public involvement undertaken by the schools tothat time, had resulted in 1,736 recommendations oncurriculum, staffing, and building, many of which set thepattern for school development during the 1960's.

But the six years which elapsed since the early seminarswere turbulent ones. In 1963, only hints that all mightnot be well in those downtown schools enrolling poorblack and white Southern immigrants reached theschool board. Two years later the board overcame itsapprehension and accepted federal aid as a first steptoward a solution. At that time teachers still met for tearather than tactics.

During this period the city was changing rapidly.Population grew by nearly 80,000 and geographical areaincreased by nearly 30 percent. Thus, in 1969 theschool system was to a large extent dealing with a newcommunity, a whole new list of worries, and acompletely different public mood.

The basic purpose of the 1963 seminars had been toinform the public about the schools and to find out exactlywhat changes the community wanted made in theeducational program. The second time around, "we weremore interested in getting people to consider theissues involved in a big city school systemjob training,compensatory education, race relations, and communityinvolvementissues that nobody had thought much aboutin 1963," explained a Columbus administrator.

31

To serve as a citywide coordinating body for theneighborhood seminars, the school superintendent, HaroldH. Eibling, established a "Committee of 200," composedof school administrators--principals, school coordinatorsand directors, and assistant principals. At the locallevel, each school principal appointed a neighborhoodcommittee of 10 persons to organize the programfor that particular school-8 were to be laymen andno more than 5 were to come from the PTAmembership. The neighborhood group was expandedto 30; 10 more members were selected by the schoolcommittee, and 10 members at large were chosen fromthose persons who learned of the program throughpublic notices and asked to participate. Any person inthe community could attend the meetings as a"participant observer." It was hoped that this arrangementwould guarantee each school a working nucleus ofinterested citizens who would attend the three scheduledseminar meetings and actively participate.

The school board established three goals for theseminars:

1. To provide an opportunity for citizens to express theirviews on goals for the public schools

2. To provide an opportunity for citizens to explorecurrent issues facing the Columbus schools

3. To provide an opportunity for citizens to become wellinformed about all aspects of the operation ofthe schools.

A 57-page study guide prepared for the seminarsfocused on the new problems: the school system's role infinding solutions to urban problems, effective technologyon education, metropolitan area planning, segregationof students along racial and economic lines, and thecommunity's voice in school operation. Seminar

32

participants received information packets from theirlocal school principal. The packets included thestudy guide as well as an outline of materials covered ineach subject at each grade level; pamphlets oneducational opportunities in Columbus, planning ofsecondary schools, summer schools, class grouping;a pamphlet outlining 55 recent improvements in theeducation of disadvantaged children; a 1969 digestof school data; a schedule of proposed construction; anda brochure on vocational education courses availablein the schools.

In addition, principals were to prepare informationsheets on their particular schools, including such topics asschool activities, the guidance and testing program,teacher assignments, extracurricular programs, and otherdata of local neighborhood interest.

A two-hour training session was held at one city highschool a week before the first seminar for some 300discussion leaders and recorders. The orientation sessionwas sponsored by the League of Women Voters asa contribution to the seminar program. Central officeadministrators, including the superintendent andmembers of his cabinet, were to be at their officetelephones the night of the seminars to answerany questions not covered in the prepared literature.

The neighborhood seminars, which brought out 5,000Columbus citizens, proved to Columbus schooladministrators that the community's confusion was real.Some questions were cautious, some were angry, -omebold. The community's feelings were out in the open.

Some principals complained that the seminarsconstituted an ideal forum for right-wing elements." Toone school administrator, appearances by pressuregroups were tiring but educational: "It gave the sincere

33

parents an opportunity to hear some of the peoplewho are constantly running off at the mouth." Oneelementary principal expressed the view of manythatthe seminars were helpful because they made the schoolpeople more aware of personalities and public concerns intheir area. For some school officials neighborhoodseminars were the first taste of community contact outsideof the traditional PTA.

The recommendations received from the 5,000 citizensin 160 different schools reflected common support forthe seminar idea. Many urged that the meetings becontinued in some form.

Participants were cc I. 'ned about taxes and studentdiscipline. They wantea ..., see their schools offermore j ob-oriented vocational courses, smaller classes, andmore programs for children with special learning orphysical handicaps. Support was also indicated for payingteachers more, giving them more free time to talk withparents during the school day, and reappraising theoperation of traditional "parent-teacher" associations.

Seminar groups tended to view racial segregation as ahousing and economic problem for the communityrather than a school problem to be met by such means asbusing. At the same time, neighborhoods expressedgreat interest in strengthening their voice in schooloperation. To this end, they called for permanentadvisory committees of laymen.

Many suggestions on the lengthy list of possibleschool reforms were too general to be useful, and theadministration considered sending a follow--ipquestionnaire to participants.

The fact that the school bond issue was badly defeatedthe following September made it even more imperative

34

that school planners determine in more detail what thepublic wanted and was willing to pay for. One changewould be to make the seminars more specific e.g., a seriesdevoted to special education, new buildings, ordisciplinary rules. Also, the staff decided that theannouncement of the upcoming bond issue, whichcoincided with the seminar planning, was unwise timinggiving the seminars a propaganda tinge.

Even if they don't always like what they hear, schooladministrators in Columbus know they have to keeptuned in. If the first round of seminars fails to quiet theold critics or prevent the birth of new ones, theanswer is to refine the tool rather than discontinue it.

"I wouldn't advise any board to enter into seminars ofthis sort unless it really wants to know what the publicis thinking and is ready to give attention to what the publicsays," commented Joseph L. Davis, Columbus' assistantsuperintendent for special services. "It can't be a veneer ora shamyou have to go into it for real."

The question in most school districts across the countryis not whether educators will talk with the public.It is rather how these talkswill take place. This is an eraof participation, and seeking citizen advice throughneighborhood seminars is one way of accommodatingthat mood.

35

kV,M

ST

IF,f,r,

7,,,mnrs,vnam

woziggiow

nw.....

-;

0 I.

N

How TO Push .a

Good ThingThv Elementary and Secondary EducationAct of 1965 freed the "imagination ofthottsandi of educators itcrosi:tbe countrywho had good _icleas_but never the fundsto put them into action. Through its variouf Tities,..sch-ool system's have beap ableto innovate, experiment, and evaluate pro-grams .designed for local.' needs. Because,schools -Aare so many co;nmon problems,these projects firm a great national re-source. They ,provickf answers aboutwhich ideas succeed and howand-which---fail and why. Yet inforniiitzon about tile,Yrojecti-,has been. slow to 'get around("disseMinationv is the official word). Afew are singled out for exposure- by na-tional publications; all are' rii-Airted,onand -the reports filed away 7--bilLitsually

-too far away from the hands of busy-teachers and 'administrators. INSouthiWestern City Schools of Grolit._C'ity7"-'-,

. Ohio, decided that their project deserved 4better treatment, and tkey. b6"rrowJ'same-

. ideas.'froh Madison Avenue to mkt-tire

that this would be ibe case." .

.

$

win

As federal projects go, Grove City's Title III plan is amodest one. With a planning grant- of $17,500 and

an operating grant of $57,710, it began in February 1967a Teen Tutorial Program. At the time, it was the onlysuch program in the country.

The purposes of the program are twofold:

1. To provide classroom aides for compensatoryeducation at the preschool levela very specialimmediate need of the school system

2. To give teen-agers more than "busy work" with theyoung children.

Participating teen-agers learn, through study-discussionactivities, about: human relations and child development,thus preparing them to function as more adequate parentswhen they reach adulthood. A prime objective is towork at breaking the cycle which appears to keep theoffspring of poor families in the poverty classificationfor generation after generation.

Seventh graders are the target group. The 75 TeenTutors, chosen from volunteers who have their parents'permission, work with children in three kindergartenclasses at an adjacent elementary school. They aresupervised by a six-member teama home economicsteacher, a social studies teacher, the three kindergartenteachers, and a counselor. The course for the Teen Tutorsincludes human relations and child development,integrated with guided observation and supervisedtutorial experiences with the young children. Theteen -agers plan their activities with the kindergartenteachers and are frequently used to help akindergartner overcome special problemswith speech,visual perception, or muscular coordination. Eachtutor has a particular kindergartner whom he studiesin &pth.

38

Parents of both the seventh graders and thekindergartners are urged to participate fully in theproject. Many activities are planned especiallyfor parents; members of the staff make home visits,and parents are encouraged to visit classroomsin both the junior high and the elementary school.

Early evaluations of the project showed that it wassucceeding very well in its two purposes. Enthusiasm washigh. ( The first full year of the program brought 200volunteers from the seventh-grade classes, although only75 could be selected.)

After the first year, outside educators were invited tovisit and observe the program. The response, however, wasdisappointing. Although the school system is notsmallstudent enrollment is 15,000it is overshadowedby nearb} Columbus. The community relations staff isa one-man officePaul Noblitt, helped by one secretary.Nevertheless, the school administration backed Noblitt'splan to use some public relations techniques more oftenused in the domain of business and industry than in schoolsystems. The administrators were convinced that theTeen Tutorial Program was a good thingand that theidea should be communicated to as many educatorsas possible.

The plans included saturation of various audiences withinformation, multimedia presentations, and moreeffective use of opportunities to communicate the project.

The public relations effort entailed more thanpublicity about a project. It also strove to "better presentboth to the profession and to the public the records ofprogress and experiences, and to present lasting evidenceof the contributions being made," according to areport by Noblitt. An offshoot of the effort hopefullywill be enhancement of the image of the school

39

system as one willing to innovate and able to handleresponsible research.

The community relations office used the followingapproaches:

Professionally designed publications about theproject. These included a major, overall brochure andtwo handbooks. The brochure, brief but well illustratedwith all information necessary for arranging visits,received saturation distribution. It was sent by direct mailto members of the Ohio State Department of Education,

the Ohio Association of School Administrators, and otherpersons included on a special list developed by theDepartment of Community Relations.

Development of a filmstrip with tape-recordednarration. Copies were circulated to teacher-traininginstitutions, to child-study institutions, and also topublic relations outlets. Excerpts were prepared for bothTV and radio presentations. There were 10 copies ofthe filmstrip made. The excerpts were rated by the staffas the "most effective explanatory piece." A 16mmmotion picture was produced as a teacher-training toolby Ohio State University writer-photographers who"lived" in the school during the first year of the program.It is being used as a public relations piece as well.National distribution has been arranged through theUniversity.

le Still photographs and slide-show materials suppliedby staff and students. Automatic electric-eye 35mmcameras were available to both staff and students and theywere urged to make "candid" photography a majorpart of the project.

Special material for radio broadcast. This wasdeveloped by project personnel and presented on bothAM and FM outlets for two broadcasts of each item.The tota! was 20 broadcasts over a six-month period.

40

A portable photographic exhibit. This was displayedat such places as the Ohio Education Association building

lobby, professional meetings, universities, and buildings ofother school systemsany place where teachers pass by.

A full-page advertisement in Ohio Schools, theofficial organ of the Ohio Education Association, witha press run of 110,000 copies. "We're not surewhether this has ever been done before," Noblittcommented about the ad, "but it meant that over100,000 people had the opportunity to read about theprogram. Hopefully, it reached some who will beinterested in coming and observing."

In addition, when school officials attended professionalmeetingsno matter what the purpose of themeetingthey took along brochures and filmstrips fordistribution. The handbooks, one prepared forparents of Teen Tutors and the other for parents ofkindergarten children, were popular items outsidethe school system as well as within. In fact, thekindergarten folder became the public relations piece"most requested by professionals."

After the saturation program began, press coverage wasexcellent. The school system kept a continuous copyand photo service for the local press on the progress of theproject and arranged special visits for representativesfrom the press.

Did the public relations effort succeed? Statistics tellthe story.

After the crescendo of publicity, visits to the projecteach week increased by 33 percent. During the firstyear of the project, requests for material were almost nil.In the second year, the average was three requests aweek. In the third year, after the publicity efforts outlinedabove, requests for written material increased 200 percent.

41

%

IIt

1V hat makes a community school? Is ita regular neighborhood school .that keepsits doors'open for longer hours? Is it onethat gives substance to pareitcr associa-tions and support to ileac' befs who want,cloTer ties with the home live,S of-their

'pupils? Or, is it mostly whetork----a seman-tic .-update for the 46.cttl public school?None of these explanations is c'oniplete Q7 .

completely correct,: for the communityschool e.717ails a variqly of activities andan overriding philosophy that dictates',that the ,school reach out and be sensitiveto t ht. aspirations and needs of. tke sur-rounding n eighborhood.' .Educafing theChild-is still the primary aim of the school,but in many areas, urban a; well as rural,that an can be accomplished only byeducatink the community. P.S.'150,Bronx,Neu, York City, has overcame it5 ano-limn), and become one with its com-munity, a neighborhood which most edii-ato-rs in the past' would' havejound-too

frustrating and difficult- fà4 fine. .

P.S. 150 is a fairly new school. It opened in 1960, butquickly outgrew its facilities. An annex of 12 portableclassrooms was added across the street in 1966. Of its1,800 pupils, 48 percent come to school unable tospeak English adequately. The ethnic distribution is73 percent Puerto Rican, 26 percent Negro, and1 percent other.

In addition to language problems, Principal BarneyGrossman has to deal with a fluid neighborhoodpopulation and, as in most big cities, the need for constantin-service education of teachers due to growth of staffand maternity leaves. Yet P.S. 150 has become thefoundation that holds the community togetheranopen, responsive place that obviously belongs to the pupilsand par:;:its that it serves.

Overcoming the language difficulties is part aneducational task, part a matter of sensitive public relations.Flexible placement in the reading program groups allchildren in the school according to their reading abilitywith constant evaluation to allow them to move tohigher groups as they progress. There are two correctivereading teachers, and pupils are given individualassistance and extra help by teachers, paraprofessionals,adult volunteers, and, at times, junior high schoolstudent volunteers. Two special classrooms are set asidefor children in grades two and above who have justcome from Puerto Rico; they move out to other classesafter a special orientation period. Another specialist,trained in teaching English as a second language, guidesboth teachers and individual pupils.

Adult English classes are held at the school twice aweek, with the emphasis upon practical situationsin everyday life or the current events in newspapers.

44

I

School goals, worked out by both staff and parentstogether, place the highest priority upon learning basicskills. The specific goal is to improve basic skills toa point where at least 50 percent of the pupils score at orabove the national norm, a truly ambitious plan in aschool where almost that many pupils speak little English.Teachers are committed to a total language program,involving numerous reading approaches and a stress onvocabulary. (Word lists are sent home regularly withpupils, and parents are encouraged to learn with them. )The school library is integrated into classroomplanning. Books are checked out at a rate of 1,000 aweek. Every class has a class library stocked withan average of 100 books, but ranging up to 400. Manyclasses visit the public library, and all children areurged to join the library. Under the "Books in the Home"project, the principal sponsors a weekly essay contestin which pupils write him letters, explaining why theywould like to win a particular book. He selectsthe 12 best letters and their winters receive the wantedbooks. Donations come from the Parents Association,staff members, and friends in the community.

Additionally, every written contact with parents isbilingualthe school handbook, calendar, announcements,regular bulletin for parents, and warm invitations to themyriad events sponsored by the school.

Also high on the list of school-community goals is"image- building" with the students--to "help the childrenunderstand and appreciate themselves and theircontributions; understand their relationship to others;understand the curriculum as it pertains to their lives."

45

Achieving this goal involves building on the culturalheritage that the children bring to school. Underan Operation Understanding program, a visiting teacherfrom Puerto Rico sometimes is obtained to provideinstruction in Spanish and on the culture of Puerto Rico.The visiting teacher's work supplements the regularcultural program of a bilingual teacher and a specialistin Afro-American and Puerto Rican culture. Thechildren have a pen pal correspondence with a school inBayamon, Puerto Rico. (On a visit to Puerto Rico,the principal once took 1,000 letters there from hispupils.) The librarian works closely with teachersto direct children to books related to Puerto Rican,Afro-American, and Latin American culture andheritage. The staff does not shy away from the problemse.g., the pervasiveness of racism in American historyand life has been explored. Parents are invited each yearto assembly programs prepared by the children onPuerto Rico Discovery Daya celebration which climaxesa week of activities, events, and assembliesandBrotherhood-Negro History Week.

Participation is a key word. Students plan activities anddiscuss school problems through their student council.A local school board member serves on P.S. 150'sschool-community council. The Parents Association isactive both in the usual programs of such a group( regular meetings, bake sales, etc.) and in more ambitiousactivities. Frequently it sponsors a variety ofworkshops for parents. Recently it sponsored two in oneyear on the school's reading program. At theseworkshops staff members presented the materials, testedsamples, demonstrated a lesson with children, anddiscussed the role of the home in developing reading skills.

46

Every evportunity is used by the school adn-:-:stration.to invite parents and the community inside to observewhat is going on. A limited sample from one year'scalendar:

Open School Weekmade more meaningful becauseeach parent was individually assigned to observe areading lesson and then invited to stay and discuss theclass work with the teacher.

Science Fairexperiments from every class on exhibitfor a week.

Art and Music Festivaleach class contributes to theFestival by performing a dance, and art we -k from eachclass is on display in the lobby and halls around theauditorium.

Grade Teasheld during the spring on separate daysby all grades for parents in order to give them a pictureof curriculum achievements over the school year.

Mother's Day Fiestaat which children honor theirmothers and grandmothers at special assembly.

The school is open for study and recreation until5 P.m. every weekday.

An open invitation to parentsto attend the weeklyassembles.

The scope of activities Mc parents and others in thecommuniti. the ditto-. involvement of adults in school life,the "open door" policy of the schoolall contribute tomaking P.S. 150 a commurity school. Equally important,however, is the tone of the effort. Behind the techniques--educational and public relarioszth ;*re is genuine

47

sincerity, as this excerpt from a special message to parents

illustrates:

"On Friday, April 25, 1969, at 10 A.M. while thoseconcerned with education at every level were concernedwith where the next fire bomb or student revolt wouldexplode, several hundred pupils from P.S. 15J Bronxgathered around the front lawn of the school .. . to watchMinerva Gonzalez, president of the student council, andBarney Grossman, school principal, plant the last ofhundreds of flowering plants in an 11-foot diametercircle. One little girl asked, 'Who's being buried?'

"When the planting was completed, Grossmanreminded the assembled children and parents that theprimary reason for the planting was to bring pleasure toall the people of the area. Mrs. Bea Williams, president ofthe Parents Association, echoed Grossman's words.Sergeant Vincent Savino of the 41st Police Precinctquietly expressed the opinion that anyone would have to be

`nuts' to disturb that beautiful planting.

"Throughout the rest of the day, schoolchildren andcommunity people stopped to admire the lovely circle cifflowers. Within classrooms children and teachers werenow learning the names of the flowers. . ..

"And so a school community had a good feeling, afeeling of pride and self-respect. An interest in beauty andnature was awakened or enhanced. The little girl whoheretofore had associated ficwers only with death had

learned a new lesson."

As a postscript to the flower planting ceremony, theschool sent a potted flower with a note to the nearestpublic school, to symbolize "our sharing of our floraldisplay with our good neighbors."

4ti

The resources of P.S. 4.50 are limitedit is one schoolout of 900 in a city where problems often overcomeperformance. Its publications are not slick. Its mostambitious writing projcet is an annual award-winningliterary magazine, written, illustrated, and produced bystudents, staff, and parents. Everything else comes fromthe office mimeograph machine. Yet these efforts, coupledwith inspiration and enthusiasm from the staff, havethoroughly convinced parents and the rest of thecommunity, according to Grossman, "that they arewelcome at P.S. 150 and that we are working for the bestinterests of their children."

49

wom

osur.ao

rs.

t

#

A

rt se

.... 4

sr

I

Texiyeo ,tal

Staff newsletters, supilitzte'n dent's' memosi,closed- circuit' TV prQgtams, _in-serpiretraining, building and area meetings-ailtrappings of doeentralizatib nztre amongthe growing range of 3.taff,communitationtecfiniqubs used by urban ichol1 systems,-he "need ,lo. know" is acute ,*in city

school' districts in the;, present climate of: crisis. First of those who heed to under-stand what the -schoolk

whotrying' t6 do

are.the staff members who work 'there.. . ,Unfortunately, there are short _circuits incommunication. The problems that cat&them grow out ofthe size art, complexity ;

of the modern 'urban schOpl.systern--thediverse, interests 6f 1.4rioris staff groitPs.the specialization of responsibilities,"the:..,<proliferation of new progratn,,r,-the uncer-tainty of finances, the crisis atmosphere,'itself. The Hartford, Connecticut, school ,

system has been ,exceptionally alert tothese:,.prob4ein,s. 1,A view of its :bigness"'and its desire 'to be' a better educational4sten students:Hartford' knewthat conzmaticating. faith teachers-.wasessential and that new appr9aches would

k be required.,

>

es

-."; 1Z

A

1"4C91?'v

Via.,

";,14 a ' '*31-

1

To facilitate "creative shop talk" among 2,400employees, the Hartford schools increased publicationactivity greatlywith two goals in mind:

Simply to be interesting. Teachers must be willing toread about their school system.

To build a sense of unity and common purpose.Hartford, like other urban school systems, was goingthrough a period of deflation and self-doubt, whichundermined the unity of the teaching staff.

With a superintendent who readily pursues methodsand financing of innovations suitable for the Hartfordschool system, the emphasis in the publications programhas been on new ideasthose that are helping Hartford'schildren become "self-directed learners." This approachputs more responsibility upon the reacher, "who mustleave the platform and give more individual assistancethan ever before to pupils. The reacher must also use theresources of many different instructional media that arebecoming available."

Responding to this trend, Hartford school system'sinformational services highlight curriculum innovations.Teachers prepare instructional packets and are encouragedto create materials on their own or work on othermaterials for distribution to all the staff.

Three of Hartford's publications are concise staffnewsletters, written "so that those who run may read."They avoid educational lingo (all are distributed to peopleoutside the school system) . Also, the editors believe thatthe special language of one field shouldn't interfere withunderstanding by someone in another.

Chalk Dust is a monthly four-page publication for allemployees, and it is also read by several hundred

52

,

II

Ili

1

i

community people and public officials. It is the "houseorgan"with names, events, and feature stories coveringnew developments.

Superintendent's T ell'nType is a newsletter postedon bulletin boards. Its limited circulation permits quickproduction. In it, staff members can make direct reportson events with which they are concerned. For example,teachers describe such projects as newspapers in theclassroom, new approaches to teaching drafting, andspecial commemoration of literary figures.

Action Report is a periodic report highlightingfunctions of various departments or particular programs( e.g., psychological services, vocational education,

Hartford's busing program to suburban schools) . Thisnewsletter has a considerable outside circulation list.

The Hartford Instructional Packets (HIPS) are themost ambitious publishing activity of the instructionalstaff. These are written by Hartford classroom teachers inorder to individualize instruction. ( Groups of teachershave worked on such topics as introduction to cells, Egypttoday, Africa, the Negro in Reconstruction, the nation'sminorities, business studies, music, and health education.)

However, these weren't just passed out at teacherorientation and left to the imagination of the staff. Alongwith the instructional materials, the curriculum staffdeveloped mat vials to help teachers use the new projects.These included suggestions for use of the packets, a guideto the organization of the packets, learning goals forindividualized programs, and a humorous guide to theguides. The introduction to the last item says, in part,"Teachers have to read volumes of hyperbolicsesquipedalianisms. For this reason we have distilled someof the terms associated with packets." Examples:Multimode is defined as "style of learning ... does he

53

learn best through eyes, ears, hands, seat of pants . . . ?"Recycling means "the kid is sent back to do the sameassignment over again because he missed the point whenhe did it the first time." Lockstep is "whole class doing thesame ole thing, at the same ole time, with the same oleteacher."

The curriculum development staff uses other methodsfor giving curriculum information personally to teachers.Large- and small-staff group meetings are held in differentschools. A flannel -board presentation describes thepacl,ets, a filmstrip is used to invite discussion by theteachers on objectives in their work with children. Thecurriculum office also supplies digests of longer curriculumguides and gives teachers a list of the topics for whichHIPS need to be written.

One of Hartford's elementary schools is a Library MediaDemonstration Center. The Center was introduced in anissue of Chalk Dust and was the subject of an ActionReport. Each of Hartford's elementary schools sent ateacher to the demonstration school to spend a day in theMedia Center and in classrooms using various instructionalmaterials from the Center. These teachers reported backto their own schools. The Center is regularly open tovisitors from within and outside the Hartford schools.Visitors receive background material (-what to look for,staffing patterns, activities) . Teachers are asked to give awritten evaluation of their -observations to the MediaCenter.

Hartford's multimillion dollar school building programis bringing another concept of educational organizationinto prominence. The MIA (Multi- Instructional Area)is a topic of much discussion and explanation in currentpublications in Hartford.

54

Another type of informational booklet for Hartfordteachersand interested outsidersis a directory of"Partnership Programs," those involving the Hartfordschools with nearby colleges and universities. Theydescribe the program and list the personnel for suchprojects as teacher training, use of VISTA volunteers inclassrooms, research on special education, and advancedplacements. A section of this booklet also describesprojects that are being planned. The importance of thepartnerships is stressed; they "must exist if teacher trainingprograms and innovative instructional strategies are to tleresponsive to the educational needs of or, cities."

Putting out this myriad of publications is a joint effort.Joining with the informational staff of thesuperintendent's office are the curriculum office and theinstructional staff, plus the school system's two gra1hicartists.

According to an evaluation by the information staff,the publications appear to interest a wide range of readers.Teachers, principals, and department chairmenincreasingly share news through staff publications. In thefirst year 31 HIPS were written and produced by teachersand tried out extensively in classrooms. The summerfollowing the first publications, more than 100 teacherssigned up to take part in workshops concerned withindividualizing instruction. After publicity, the MediaCenter figures showed both increased use of the library anda large number of visitors.

55

-a_

aralloroo.

; 5,

I1C

. a es a Dice/No school communications task is more.difficitlt than' persuading taxpayers tospend money on their public Ischools,'There are those who will argue againstany increases jibe budget.,(If.a schooldistrict hara majority of these citizens, it"mad' experience That was "termed the .

"Youligstown phenomenoit" in the late1960'sthe total ,ihutdouln of a ,schoolsyite,mWcausovoters refused to approve'adequate tax income.) On the- otherhand,,, there are citizens who. are always1,villing* to spend &ore- money on theirspecific programs. And there are thosewho will support budget increases will-inglyuntil they see the price tag.- Too 9

often school administrations seek the easyway out and conduct budget decision

.nzaking with as little public fanfare aspassible: Those whb meet-the issues .and, . -

the public = face-on must be rkiliful, tan-did, and willing to .compromise. Mgomery' County; Maryland, blOughtpublic into .budget -decisions at the .very

_beiginning, via a uniquely. conceived;titi- i,.zens handbook that spelled but thecolye-quence's of eilf.b b;algel i.onsidertitioo, r

A state law passed in 1968 required the Board ofEducation of Montgomery County, an affluent bedroomsuburb of Washington, D.C., to negotiate with theteachers association on "all matters pertaining to salaries,wages, hours, and other working conditions." Essentiallythis meant that about 75 percent of the school district'soperating budget would be decided through teacher-Boat:dnegotiations.

In a county where interested and knowledgeablecitizens pride themselves on scrutiny of and support forschool budgets, many saw the closed-door negotiationsprocess as drastically altering the parent's supportive rolein school decision making.

Under Maryland state law, the public has no directcontrol over school operating funds or tax rates. Finaldecisions are made by the County Cou.acil, acting onrecommendations from the Board of Education. Strongpublic support of the school budget is necessary before theCouncil acts on the requests. The school administrationfelt this -would be achieved by having the public participatein the budget process from the very beginningbeforethe teacher negotiations began.

It is obvious that for the public to be able to contributepositively to the creation of an operating budget, it wouldhave to understand first what its suggestions would cost.The vehicle chosen was a handbook for citizenparticipation, listing the various types of improvementsthat could be made in the school system along with costestimates. Explained information officials: "Each citizen,therefore, would be able to make his own choices with fullknowledge of how much his proposal would increase thebudget or how much money would have to be cut fromother proposed improvements lower on his priority list."The handbook was appropriately titled Choices for OurChildren.

58

The handbook was distributed as widely as possible.More than 20,000 copies were printed, and each schoolreceived a supply for its staff, members of its PTA executiveboard, and any interested parents. Copies were sent topersons on various mailing lists of the information officeand to all persons who requested them. So many requestscame in that a second printing was necessary.

Choices for Our Children basically served as resourcematerial for a series of four "town meetings" scheduled indifferent areas of the county. Administrative personneland teachers were on hand at the meetings to answerquestions in small discussion groups. The town meetings,which attracted about 1,200 participants, not only helpedto answer the public's questions, but also gave the staff anindication of public sentiment about the budget. Throughwritten reports on each discussion group, supplied byrecorders assigned by the PTA Council, the administrationand School Board had a early input for the budget-makingprocess.

The third step was the scheduling of public hearings.The impact of the campaign to interest citizens in budgetmaking was evident; there were so many requests fromwould-be speakers at the initial hearing that another onehad to be scheduled. Although each speaker was limitedto five or ten minutes, both meetings went into the earlyhours of the morning. According to veteran staff members,the speakers' comments for the first time were directed atreal problems and real programs. Their testimony wasgenerally much more in support of specifics than at anyprevious budget hearing. This, in turn, made it mucheasier for the School Board and the superintendent todetermine the public's prioritieswhat the public wouldsupport in the final decisions.

59

In the second year of the new involvement process,discussion sessions were held on a single night in each ofthe district's 180 schools, rather than in four townmeetings. The sessions began with a half-hour programover the local ETV channel. The program featured theSchool Board president, the superintendent, and theteachers association president. Following the TV program,more than 6,000 citizens and staff members discussed the"Choices" under the chairmanship of principals and PTAofficers in each school.

Not only was there a 500 percent improvement inattendance at the discussion sessions in the second year, butthe public hearings that had attracted 81 speakers on twonights in 1968 drew 152 speakers on three nights in 1969.

Did this public campaign work? Although MontgomeryCounty was as much a part of the "taxpayer's rebellion"that year as any other part of the country, the publicrallied behind the school budget in the face of strongbudget-cutting sentiment on the County Council. Vigoroustestimony before the Council by citizens and well-organizedPTA groups can be credited with keeping budget cuts to aminimum. Of the $125 million operating budget proposedby the School Board, less than 1.5 percent was cut by theCouncil.

How did the budget discussion guide develop? Theschool administration early set several goals. Areasneeding improvement must be reduced to manageableproportions; they must reflect the real needs felt by theprofessional staff and the community; and they must bepractical.

The first step, therefore, was to involve the professionalstaff in drawing up alternatives. This was done through 33"task force" committees assigned to work on specific areas

60

1

by a committee of principals and administrators. Amajority of each committee was made up of classroomteachers, and the chairman was a school-based staffmember. Because the information staff wanted terse,hard-hitting reports, the committees were given little morethan a week to complete their work and were limited totwo typewritten pages for their reports. They were told "topull no punchesto recommend whatever they felt wasneededusing the child as the focus."

These reports were returned to a two-man writing teamthat condensed them, put them into an organized format,and, with the help of the budget office, figured out theprice tag for each recommendation. The final step, beforethe actual writing began, was a screening by thesuperintendent and his executive staff to eliminaterecommendations that were impractical or which thesuperintendent would not support. There were,surprisingly, very few of these.

The final handbook was quite readable and wellillustrated with photographs. The recommendedimprovements, including the price tags, were printed inbold face to set them apart from the general discussion ofeach topic. No attempt was made to add up all therecommendationsthese were choices and many weremutually exclusive. The areas for improvement weredivided into five major groups:

1. Staff (salaries, fringe benefits, staff development)

2. Elementary program ( organization patterns,curriculum planning time, special needs of smallschools, counseling)

3. Secondary program (school organization, curriculum,counseling)

61

4. Extending the school frontier ( early childhoodeducation, the disadvantaged, special education, summerschool and adult education )

5. Helping the teacher (teacher aides, substitutes, newschool staffing, instructional TV, instructionalmaterials, and maintenance) .

Looking back, the information staff was able to singleout from its experience pitfalls for others to avoid inpreparing a similar handbook:

Remember that it is being written for the generalpublic, which understands little about the educationalprocess and even less about finance. Keep it simple.

Do not assume that the public wants to knoweverything about every subject. Skim the cream off eachsubject area and stick to that.

Avoid the appearance of an expensive document.Tone down the brochure so it is attractive and readable,but not rich looking. Have it printed in-house if atall possible. Photographs, especially of children, areeffective, but the use of color and fancy paper will have anegative effect on the money-conscious public.

0 Be honest. Admit the school system's weaknesses"not only for this type of campaign, but for the year-roundpublicity effort. You can't brag for 11 months a year andthen plead poverty in the twelfth."

Choices for Our Children, from the very first,emphasizes candidness: "It would be difficult tocharacterize this brochure except, perhaps, as a compilationof goalsways in which the school system could improvethe education of the children of Montgomery County.The word to emphasize is could. Every one of thesepossible improvements has a price taga price that must

62

!

i

be paid by the taxpayer. . We have attempted to giveyou, the taxpaying public, a comprehensive view of ourschool system, along with a road map showing where wecan go from here. We seek your advice as we decidewhich roads to take and how far to go. . . ."

ThankThe staff of the National School Public Relations

Association is indebted to the personnel of the schoolsystems described in this report, especially H. WestbrookPeterson, Fremont, Calif.; Floyd J. Amundson,Minneapolis, Minn.; John A. Gil lean, Los Angeles, Calif.;Joseph L. Davis, Columbus, Ohio; Paul S. Noblitt,South-Western City Schools, Grove City, Ohio; BarneyGrossman and Jerome G. Kovalcik, New York City;Richard G. Woodward, Hartford, Conn.; and Kenneth K.Muir, Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md.

Our thanks go also to Mrs. Anne Chambers Lewis, whodrafted the manuscript; to David Lore,correspondent forthe Columbus Dispatch, whose report on the Columbus,Ohio, neighborhood seminars was the basis for the section,"Feeling the Community Pulse"; and to the PublicationsDivision of the National Education Association foreditorial and production assistance.

64