School referendum FAIL? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
If it PASSED, YOU STILL NEED TO READ THIS!
Today, a lot of students, families and community members are holding their breath waiting to find out if the community is willing to increase their own taxes in order to provide more money for schools.
For some communities, the money is for exciting improvements and upgrades like WiFi services, new arts facilites, equipment for a new tech ed program, specially designed classroom furniture that promotes focus and collaboration, and important professional development for teachers so they can implement educational methods that are based on the newest research on how children learn best. For others, the money is capital needed to replace buildings that are 50 or even a hundred years old. And for some communities, the referendum money is critical for survival - just to pay for current operations.
It can definitely be easier or harder to pass a referendum depending on what the money will be used for, but you can't really predict why without doing a lot of outreach. For example, there are some small communities that are so passionate about education for their children and the trust level is so high between the schools and the community, it doesn't really much matter what the money is needed for - the community will support it. For other communities though, where there is not as much trust, or where there is a lack of understanding of the need for the improvements, it won't matter how sexy the message is, there just won't be enough support to pass it.
Whatever camp your community falls into, AND WHETHER YOUR REFERENDUM PASSES OR FAILS TODAY, you should view tomorrow as the first day on your journey of genuine community engagement and an entirely new way to look at education funding.
Education Funding is NOT ABOUT MONEY!
I'm sure that sounds crazy, but the the communities that are most supportive of their education programs don't see school funding as a cost or an expense to be minimized. They see education as the path to success for their children, but also as the path to ABUNDANCE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY.
It's obvious you need community support to be able to pass referendums that will provide you with the resources schools need, and today's referendum results will tell you whether you have that support or not. But, it's actually not obvious how you get that support.
I'm going to share with you the SECRET TO GETTING ALL THE RESOURCES YOUR SCHOOLS NEED! I call it the formula for effective community engagement, and that formula is STORY + DIRECTION + RELATIONSHIPS. It might take a leap of faith for you, but I promise if you dive deep into the formula, you will not have to ASK (e.g., beg) FOR WHAT YOUR SCHOOLS NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL. You will ATTRACT MORE THAN YOU NEED!
READY? This is the Reader's Digest version of the of the formula.
FIRST, let's start with STORY. Find the THREE (no more than three) things that make your school awesome, and start talking about it in a way people can understand. I'm not asking you to tell people your'e perfect. There's some amazing things going on in your schools, and you need to figure out what they are and build on them. It might be your teachers' constant openness and desire to change and improve. It might be how you integrate the arts and humanities into everything you do. It might be that you talk about relationships with your students every single day (that's really cool). Your STORY needs to capture the essence of who you are so people can find an emotional connection to it.
A critical part of your story is a VISION FOR THE FUTURE. People don't get excited about the hard work you do every day. They get excited about WHAT WILL HAPPEN because of what you're doing every day. We call this the BHAG (remember Tom Peters?) - BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL. The bigger and bolder the vision for the future, the more excited people will be and the more support and money you will attract.
But here's the catch with the vision. You can't just develop the vision internally. All the stakeholders of your schools must be involved. You can decide what your educational philosophy will be and how you will deliver it (e.g., project-based learning, place-based learning, infusing the arts into all subjects, career exploration, etc.), but YOU MUST ASK PEOPLE TO HELP YOU DREAM ABOUT WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE IF IT'S SUCCESSFUL. When people are part of the dream, they feel ownership for helping to make it happen.
SECOND, is direction. Once you've inspired people with your story and gotten them excited about the community-inspired vision for the future, you now must make it so clear what is needed to get there so people can decide for themselves how they want to help. Now that you've got an exciting vision, determine what the TOP THREE PRIORITIES are that need to be achieved to get you closer to that vision. These three priorities will become part of your story. For example, if your vision is to be the best at preparing high school students for success in careers and college, your top three priorities might be: #1 Cultivating partnerships with businesses in the community that work in the fields of health sciences, manufacturing and technology; #2 Secure the resources or partners needed to provide transportation for students to community business partner locations at a cost of $15,000 annually, and #3 Sustain the lap top initiative, which provides lap-top computers to every new student.
The beauty in defining and sharing your top three priorities is that people can determine for themselves how they can help. An inspired community member may know that there is a business with brand new lap top computers just waiting to donate to someone who could use them. Another community member may be one of the vice presidents at the local hospital and sees the mutual benefit of providing internships to students. Get what I mean? The more clear you are about what you need, the easier it is for people to help. IT'S NOT THE COMMUNITY MEMBER'S JOB TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO HELP YOU. it's your job to be clear about what you need to achieve your vision.
THIRD, comes the fun part - or the scary part to others - relationships. With your inspiring story, with an exciting vision for the future, and clear priorities defined, it's time to empower everyone involved with your schools to share the story with everyone they know AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
You're going to need to change your mindset in order to benefit by my formula, especially when it comes to money. When it comes to ATTRACTING resources - I mean money and "stuff" just kind of shows up at your door - you'll need to buy-in to our mantras.
Quick story from my friend (client) Anne Louis, founder of Shiocton International Leadership Academy in Wisconsin. We had been working with her team for about five months before they opened their new public charter school in the district. Everyone had bought into the alinea formula hook, line and sinker as they say. They were attracting people, money and support all summer long. Well, it was the day before the first official day of the new school, and Anne wrote a note to herself on the whiteboard - 2 microwaves - just to remind herself that they still needed two microwaves. The next day, someone came into the school wondering if they could use 3 microwaves. THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!
Now, on to these mindset changes you'll have to make - call them a NEW BELIEF SYSTEM:
1. IT'S NOT ABOUT ASKING FOR MONEY (OR ANYTHING) - It's about sharing something you're passionate and excited about. It's not about a script, but it is about everyone being on the same page about those THREE THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR SCHOOLS AWESOME. After sharing that part, people should go where their hearts take them and share stories. For a parent of a fourth grader, they will be most passionate sharing things that have to do with their own child's experience. For a member of the school board that works at a major employer, they will be most passionate about how the schools are teaching students 21st century skills like critical thinking, collaboration and communication. If you arm these passionate ambassadors with the knowledge of the top three priorities, they will be walking magnets for resources and not even know it.
2. IT'S ABOUT SEEING EVERY MOMENT OF THE DAY AS AN OPPORTUNITY. Whether you're getting a haircut, attending your cousin's wedding reception, buying groceries or chatting with people after church services, every moment is an opportunity to share this exciting story. Make it a rule never to answer the question, "So, what's new?" with answers like "Not much," or "Same old, same old." Make a game out of it. My clients are never allowed to answer those questions like that. A bell goes off in their heads that reminds them to talk about all the amazing work being done in the schools.
Another quick story from my friend and client Theresa Haaz of Granton Schools. She copied us on this email to her leadership team: "Hey! I am so excited and pumped right now I have to
share!!! THIS WORKS (alinea's formula)!!! I reached out to the community members today regarding the Facebook project and both of them have agreed to
help!!! We have a meeting set up and I’m so excited!!! I was still a little hesitant and not sure what to say, but I
asked and they agreed!!! GRANTON SCHOOL IS AWESOME and so are the people who support it!
3. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. You've heard this saying before, but if you become more conscious of how true it is, you will be surprised by your own results. This is about being open to the generosity of whoever is standing in front of you. This is about connecting with people in a way that doesn't focus on an outcome. It's about allowing them to take you on a journey inside of them, and to really learn about what makes them happy. People connect to you when you are open to what they have to offer.
Going Beyond Referendums - A New Model for Funding
Referendums are very interesting to me. I understand the motivation behind them, but they also result in a kind of complacency among school leaders and community members. The good idea behind referendums is that in theory the community is working together to suport the schools proportionate to their capacity (measured by property ownership). This results in everyone sharing the responsibility fairly.
There are a few problems with this approach though; the most important problem is that many people do not feel they have a choice and if given the choice they may not support the referendum. For others, their contribution through the referendum is a pittance compared to what their true capacity is and even what they would be willing to contribute if asked.
The unhappy people will share their unhappiness with others, which will lead to less community support. The others will breathe a sigh of relief when the referendum passes and then forget about it. In both cases, there is no personal and emotional connection happening that would lead to more contribution from both people. If the person who does not want to support the schools is unhappy based on a misperception, that's not his fault. It's the role of the school to provide the information that could correct the misperception. In my experience, lack of support is usually about inadequate information and fear about how changes will impact someone's life.
INSTEAD, communities should focus on having an exciting vision for education, figuring out what needs to happen to achieve it, and then empower people who are excited with tools to help them spread the word - EVERYWHERE - and make connections with people who feel inspired to help no matter where they live.
Homework
In the beginning, it's as simple as this. Later, when people start saying, "I want to help," then we need to talk about some infrastructure.
Try this approach and let me know what happens. Or, send me an email at dlukovich@wi.rr.com and ask for some of our tools, like Elevator Pitch document, Compelling Tour guidelines, 10 Steps to Cultivating Relationships. Also, my book, The Secret to Better Schools; a New Mindset for Engaging the Community, acts as a handbook for putting this formula to work.
I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT YOUR REFERENDUMS!
Deb
