Promoting Public Schools

How are YOU promoting public schools? E-mail us!

Understanding and responding to parent and community expectations for our public schools is essential to the continued improvement of public education. The Learning First Alliance is developing communications tools and resources to assist educators, policymakers and others to promote effectively the value of public education for our nation.

A Practical Guide to Promoting America's Public Schools

This guide reflects what the public wants to know about strengthening our public schools: vision, values and accountability. It provides practical advice on communicating about public education with parents, the public and others.

How Public Education Supporters are Promoting Public Schools Around the Nation

Are you using messages and activities suggested in our Practical Guide to Promoting Public Schools? Do you have additional approaches that work in your community? Email us at info@learningfirst.org to share examples of how you communicate about the value, mission and performance of public schools. Effective examples will be posted on this web page.

Other Resources for Promoting Public Schools

Learning First Alliance. The Practical Guide to Talking with Your Community: No Child Left Behind and Schools in Need of Improvement offers guidance on how to communicate and engage in dialogue with parents, community, media, and school staff about NCLB.

Center for Public Education. The National School Board Association's Center for Public Education aims to provide local school leaders, parents, the public and the media with essential and timely information about our nation's public schools and their vital influence on the past, present and future of the United States. www.nsba.org/site/index_peac.asp

Good News about Public Schools in Your State. This National Education Association site provides state specific data that can be incorporated into your communications strategies. www.nea.org/goodnews/

What's Good About Public Schools. This article documents how public education is getting better. Written by Jack Jennings and Madlene Hamilton at the Center on Education Policy, the article appeared in the April/May 2004 issue of the National PTA's magazine Our Children. www.cep-c.org/pubs/PTA_May_2004/PTA_May_2004.htm

Public Opinion Data

"Equity and Adequacy: Americans Speak on Public School Funding," a public opinion poll conducted by Democratic pollster Peter Hart and the late Republican pollster Robert Teeter for ETS. The poll reveals Americans’ attitudes about the fairness of the way in which public schools are funded and how effectively the nation’s public schools are educating students. www.ets.org

Public Agenda has conducted over two decades of research on public opinion on public education. Key findings of their research are summarized in their 2003 publication, Where We are Now: 12 Things You Need to Know About Public Opinion and Public Schools. This and other useful reports are available at www.publicagenda.org