KEEPING KIDS IN EDUCATION

AND EDUCATION IN

THE PUBLIC AND POLITICAL EYE

By: Lindsey Scheltema and Michele Hladik

PBRL450 H1WW

12-17-11

STAND FOR CHILDREN:

A TEAM EFFORT

Stand for Children

Mission: Educate all children

Non Profit in 9 states

Public and political resources

Our Firm

Knowledgeable

Experience with non profit s

Wide range of public and political resources

THE ISSUE AT HAND

High dropout rates Especially inner city schools

African Americans and Hispanics

Leads to increase in social services

More unemployment

More food stamps and other aid

Higher chance of incarceration

Education issues have dropped in

public and political priority

Decrease dropout rates

Increase public awareness

Make these issues a top

priority for lawmakers Start with Republican primary

election

Expand to General election

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

THE TARGET AUDIENCE Direct Audience

Tax payers

Parents age 30-50

From urban areas

Modest and limited incomes

Politicians

Local, state and federal

Primary candidates

General election candidates

Indirect Audience Urban areas

Non parents age 30-50

Higher incomes

Rural areas

Parents age 30-50

Modest income

Unintended Audience

Those over 50 years old

Those under 30 years old

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR SUCCESS

Public Awareness

School district wide PTO meetings Share statistics and issue

Pass out flyers and informative materials

Community activity, events, fairs, and parades

Sponsor awareness competitions Incentives to schools that participate

Most creative programs

Special clubs for those at risk of dropping out

Public Service Announcements Young student gradually grows into mature adult

Former dropouts who regret the decision

Students who have come close to dropping out, but didn’t

Encourage community members to contact political leaders

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR SUCCESS Political Awareness

Contact politicians to discuss the dropout issue Encourage making it a priority

Offer support for those who do

Host a series of political debates Start with local and state races

Primary elections

November general election

Sponsored by tv network

Two spokesperson First Lady Michele Obama

Popular liberal

African American example of hard work

Senatorial hopeful Joe Cruz

Up and coming conservative

Popular in Hispanic communities

WORKING TOWARD PROGRESS

Within the first two weeks:

Contact candidates

Establish media sponsors

Finalize plans with spokespeople

List of future events

Establish PTO meetings

Order printed materials

WORKING TOWARD PROGRESS

Within the first month of the campaign:

Begin filming of the PSAs

Schedule community events

Issue a press release announcing plans

Begin attending community and PTO events

Begin evaluating campaign

One month before each primary:

Finalize plans for each debate

Begin promoting each debate

WORKING TOWARD PROGRESS

Three months after the start of the campaign:

Announce the awareness contest winners

Award contest prizes

After the general election in November 2012:

Touch base with political campaign winners

Review the evaluation

BUDGETING FOR SUCCESS

Mostly be funded through

sponsorships and donations Local businesses

Network television

Few expenses including: $2,000 per state for the printing of

handout materials

$1,000 per state for awareness

campaign awards

Other awards from donations

$3,000 to film each of the two public

service announcements

PSA air time donated by the local

broadcast sponsors.

EVALUATING THE PLAN

Compile the number of news stories

Track school participants

Requests for special PTO meetings

Attendance at each event

Number of politicians who place the

dropout issue and education as

one of their top three priorities

Regular evaluations:

End of the first month

Every two months after

CONCLUSION

High school dropout rates

are a drain on

Public awareness and

political presence are key

Engage the public through

spreading awareness

Develop political ties

QUESTIONS

REFERENCES About Stand for Children. (2011). Stand for Children. Retrieved December 1,

2011, from http://www.stand.org/Page.aspx?pid=1268#vision

America’s young adults at 23: School enrollment, training, and employment

transitions between ages 22 and 23 summary. (2011) United States

Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/nlsyth.nr0.htm

Dillion, S. (2009 October 8). Study finds high rate of imprisonment among

dropouts. The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2011, from

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/education/09dropout.html

Nads. (2011 June 22). MTV May Exploit High School Dropouts. Newsgasm.

Retrieved December 12, 2011 from http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasms

/mtv-may-exploit-high-school-dropouts/

Politicians sweep midterm elections. (2006 November 7). The Onion.

Retrieved December 12, 2011 from http://www.theonion.com/

Articles/politicians-sweep-midterm-elections,2083/