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The school leaders of the twenty-first century must have knowledge and understanding of emerging issues and trends that potentially have an impact on the school community; the conditions and dynamics of the diverse school community; community resources; com- munity relations and market strategies and processes; and successful models of school, family, business, community, government, and higher education partnerships. They should also believe in, value, and be committed to schools operating as an integral part of the larger community, col- laboration and communication with families, involvement of families and other stakeholders in school decision-making processes, the proposition that diversity enriches the school, families as partners in the education of their children, the proposition that families have the best interests of their children in mind, resources of the family and community needing to be brought to bear on the education of students, and an informed public. The Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC (2014) addressing the topics of communities of engagement, and equity and cultural responsiveness are directly addressed in Part Four.

Interacting with the External School Environment

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15 Marketing the Schools C H A P T E R

The School and the Community

One thing the principal needs to realize is that the school serves a vast public and not all school communities are the same. Even the neighborhoods served by smaller elementary schools are often more complex than might be realized. In other words, not all school audi- ences are the same and the audience itself is composed of individuals and groups whose ori- entations vary, who receive and understand information differently, and whose response patterns vary.

There is no single public. Community members may be members of a variety of publics— parents, union members, church goers, Lions Club members, grandparents, professionals of one sort or another, among others—and they are all taxpayers.

Moreover, the various school communities receive information differently. And often, too, the individuals and groups want different kinds of information and need to receive it in different “packages” if it is to be understood and acted on positively.

Each principal or school public relations director will need to identify the several audiences of school practices. Consider the following list:

■ Parents ■ Nonparents ■ Older citizens ■ Teachers ■ Students ■ Businesses and business leaders ■ The professional community ■ Labor unions ■ Special interest groups (activists of any sort, religious leaders, etc.) ■ The disenchanted, anomic bottom feeders

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This list (and other individuals and groups could be added—it depends on the community) is more than suggestive of how difficult it may be to develop a practical marketing program.

Moreover, in any community except the most anomic there is both an informal and formal decision-making structure. The degree to which this involves itself in school affairs will vary, but in public and private schools much money is acquired and spent and that, if nothing else, catches eyes. In the instance of public schools, we are speaking of the tax rolls, and the acquisi- tion and disbursement of these monies is also of great interest to those who do not have children in the schools.

This chapter is about marketing the schools. When we write the word marketing, we are not writing about “selling goods.” We are writing about helping people understand the school’s effort and product and what it can do for the community. It is basic that one can only do this effectively if one is marketing a good product.

Our effort will be to provide a basis for analyzing the community and suggest practices that will be effective in communicating the worth of the school. School-issue problem-solving prac- tices in various group settings will be explored.

How Is the Specific School Community Composed?

By “specific school community” we are writing about the composition of those people who reside in the school attendance area. In small towns this will mean the population of the town. In cities it will mean defined attendance areas. If the school district is an open enrollment district, the “school community” will be complex indeed. Similarly, if the district has a magnet program the “school community” will also have an increasingly complex nature.

A principal will be well advised to first do a drive through of the attendance area and an examination of the residence areas from which the students come. This is much easier, of course, in single-zone districts. It is, however, necessary even in districts that are multizoned or have magnet or open school arrangements.

Why is it necessary to know where the students reside when not in school? Simply because patterns of respective information exchanges—communication—vary from groups to groups and residence patterns will often reveal the nature of groups sending their children and youth to school. Various ethnic groups, differing income levels, and home languages among other things vary widely in some school systems as do the expectations and communal wisdom of members of various social groups.

Moreover, not everyone who lives within a school attendance area has children in the school. The attitudes, orientations, and concerns of various age groupings, professional and busi- ness associations—Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, and other clubs of a similar nature—labor organizations, religious groups, and nonparents are important to know.

Different ways of packaging information about the school are essential. Not everyone reads a newspaper. Not everyone gets the news from Internet. Not everyone attends various com- munity meetings or is a member of PTO or PTA or a booster club. And even among those who do these sorts of things, not everyone understands what that school is attempting to do or agrees with it if they do understand. So a communication and marketing system must be varied and have some mechanisms for feedback.

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The Secular Society

For a clearer perspective of the complexity of the issue about communication within a school district, consider the concepts of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.1 Gemeinschaft refers to a sim- ple culture in smaller communities, whereas Gesellschaft refers to cultures that reflect a diversity of people and beliefs even though the population may reside within the same civil unit.

We live in an urban society. The United States has more than two-thirds of its population liv- ing in what are essentially urban settings. Yet the term urbanization implies more than a population movement; it describes even more, entirely different living patterns, interaction patterns, and com- munication patterns. Societies may be viewed as existing on a continuum of “sacred” to “secular.”2

One could characterize the sacred community as that kind of community in which the “old ways are the best ways”—a society in which one would find ideological unity, well-understood and fixed patterns of behavior, and common expectations of its institutions and those who par- ticipate in those institutions. Thus, a teacher is to “do these sorts of things but not those.” “The role of the parent is . . . ” “Young people are to . . . ” “Couples should not live together unless they are married.” And these kinds of beliefs go on,according to well-understood and accepted norms of behavior. This is a Gemeinschaft culture.

In a secular society, at the other end of the continuum, one does find a ready acceptance of new ways of behaving and an acceptance of the different ways that others behave. Old virtues may be seen as hypocritical or as evidence of blind conformity. Roles are not so clearly spelled out and expectations of those in various roles are varied. This is a Gesellschaft culture. Figures 15.1 and 15.2 depict the major differences between the cultures.

One would describe America’s position on the sacred–secular scale as clearly at the secular end. The problem in our urbanized, secular society is that various groups and individuals will also reflect various points on the sacred–secular scale and hold different perceptions of what the several institutions serving the community ought to look like. The politics of confrontation and conflict within which the schools and other social institutions are caught is simply a manifestation of this.

Readers will find it useful to consider their own community or their school’s attendance area and place it on the sacred–secular continuum. The implications for marketing the school suggest a greater variety of approaches as the secular end of the continuum is approached.

In the sacred society (Gemeinschaft), one finds agreement on mores and manners, little outside influence, and a high degree of social integration. One might find such a society today in

FIGURE 15.1 Factors of a Gemeinschaft Culture

■ Kinship ties between the persons in the community

■ Little division of labor

■ An absence of special interest groups

■ Knowledge about one’s neighbors

■ Self-sufficiency

■ Conformance through informal controls

■ A strong sense of community identity

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isolated rural areas. However, often in urban areas one can find something representative of this society in the ghettos or neighborhoods of folks of a particular ethnic or racial group. The Chinatowns, Little Italies, Fourth Wards, etc., are examples of this.

The problem of keeping the publics well informed and generally supportive of the efforts of formal schooling is a continuing one and is most difficult in today’s culturally pluralistic, multiethnic, religiously, and ethically fractured society. Don’t think so? Read the pages of the local paper: front section and second section, op-ed page, and letters to the editor. A seemingly simple—to you—issue is fraught with uncertainty and disagreement elsewhere among others.

When we write the word public as plural, that is what we mean. Any school practice, new or continuing, any reform, any new textbook or reading list, any cheerleader selection process, any hiring or firing of personnel or change of assignment, any location, relocation, or closing of a school is subject to manifold response from the publics, oftentimes rancorous and loud.

How does this make a difference when one is marketing the school? Clearly, if one is deal- ing with a Gemeinschaft community or neighborhood, the process becomes much simpler. Find the few key persons—community leaders—discuss the issues with them, and expect the word to get out through them. Depending on the leaders’ acceptance of the school’s direction, one can expect community support. In the Gesellschaft community, a multi-varied approach is necessary. We live in a Gesellschaft society. Most of the marketing strategies proposed in this book are designed to reflect that diversity.

This chapter is organized into three parts. In the first part we describe some of the major issues that are likely to confront the school leader. Then, in the second part, we consider the complexity of the community and the issues that often produce controversy or, at least, differ- ences of opinion. Strategies and techniques for good public relations are our focus in the third part of the chapter.

Hot-Button Issues

Maintaining a good course of positive interaction between school and the publics is quite possible, not to say necessary. It is not all bad news and potential conflict, although it is important to write about that as well. Most people in most communities are not unhappy about the operation of the school and have a generally positive regard for educators and formal educational policies.

FIGURE 15.2 Factors of a Gesellschaft Culture

■ People largely unified by civil units rather than kinship

■ A great division of labor and specialization of function

■ Proliferation of organizations each with a special membership and purpose

■ Lack of knowledge about one’s fellows in the community

■ Formalized social controls set by laws and enforced by civil agencies

■ High interdependence with other communities even for basic necessities

■ Anonymity to the point where people may be in the unit but not of the unit

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From time to time, however, some events happen and some decisions are made that inspire negative reactions from this or that public. Sometimes, the reactions are the result of poor com- munication endeavors by educators; sometimes, they are the result of continuing social prob- lems; and sometimes, they are the result of differences in basic belief systems.

Certain issues predictably will cause controversy and discord in some communities. Recognizing this and developing proper mechanisms to handle the controversy will make for less pain and less disruption. What are these potentially disruptive issues? They are not always dis- tinct from each other and some meld in certain instances and controversies. Let’s look at the more prevalent causes of complaint and discord.

Religious Beliefs

Nothing can be as rancorous or disruptive as charges from this religious group or that citizens’ organization that the school is operating in a manner inconsistent with certain beliefs or contrary to common law and court decisions. The former charges are among the most difficult to handle, and the second are the most time-consuming and painful as legal underpinnings are disputed. Can you have a Bible Club? May you allow the distribution of religious tracts on school property? Is evolution demonstrable fact? And, sometimes one religious group will dispute attention that another is given in public school schools. Christmas celebrations have disappeared from most public schools. Halloween parties are no longer permitted in many schools—Satanism is the fear. Many folks in the community care greatly about these issues. Keep your attorney handy. And, keeping one’s perspective secular seems to be the best policy.

Books and Educational Materials

“Dirty books” is the allegation. Inappropriate placement of educational materials is some of the other charges. “Huckleberry Finn is racist! Harry Potter is satanic! Of Mice and Men has offen- sive language! It’s Perfectly Normal focuses on homosexuality and has sexual content!” Sometimes there will be a protest because of reading assignments a teacher has made or because a certain book is alleged to be inappropriate for the grade level in which it is used, or because certain books are readily available to everyone who comes to the library.

A new group will form or one or two excited parents or community members will complain. A bunch of parents or neighborhood leaders stands outside your office. What do you do? Here are some things to consider: Do you have any policies to guide the selection of educational mate- rials? Has the American Library Association list and policies been examined?3 Is there an appeals committee in the school? Is there an appeals policy? Is it followed?

The most challenged books of 2012 reported by the Office of Intellectual Freedom and published by the American Library Association are listed in Figure 15.3. For many books, age appropriateness was the issue. Religion and sexual explicitness were among other main concerns. These issues may best be addressed by an advisory committee composed of some parents, a librar- ian, an administrator, and a teacher or two who represent an appropriate grade or subject level.

But, it isn’t merely new and popular books that have been subject to banning. The ALA has also identified some time-honored classics that have been subject to community contro- versy and in many instances banned from the bookshelves and reading lists. Figure 15.4 displays these books.

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FIGURE 15.3 Dangerous Reading?

The American Library Association (ALA) sponsors an annual Banned Books Week, which celebrates the freedom to read. In contrast, the books listed below have been pulled, by some citizen’s demand, from some libraries or schools. These books were labeled dangerous; the reason for the label is given after the book title:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group

4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group

6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit

7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group

8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence

9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit

10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

FIGURE 15.4 Often Challenged Classics

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger

The Grapes of Wrath. John Steinbeck

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Ulysses, James Joyce

Beloved, Toni Morrison

The Lord of the Flies, William Golding

1984, George Orwell

Lolita, Vladmir Nabokov

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Catch 22, Joseph Heller

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Animal Farm, George Orwell

The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

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Sometimes, classic works and other volumes are restricted—not banned—because of “age appropriateness.” That is a judgment call and a judgment best made by an advisory council. But, most often it has to do with the content and the vocabulary used rather than age appropriateness.

A review of the books listed in Figure 15.4 suggests that people or groups of people in some communities may be less comfortable in our diverse society with what is “appropriate.” “Classic” works, in some instances, deal with “touchy” subjects, in other instances infringe on religious or cultural beliefs, in still others depict social situations that some folks wish to avoid or don’t want young person’s reading or thinking about. Clearly this is the antithesis of what and educational system is all about. A review of the books in the list suggests a great literature course even though some of these works may require a high level of reading and reasoning ability.

School Closings and New Buildings

It is inevitable. Close a school for whatever reason—low enrollment, poor location, excessive costs for repair and remodeling—and there will be an outcry from some part of the school com- munity or neighborhood. The answer, not always satisfactory to everyone but ultimately the only way, is for the school leaders to be certain of their facts and have anticipated the difference of opinions. Alumni of a closing school will nearly always be disturbed. Have they been involved in any way? Nearby neighbors will be bothered. Their children will be inconvenienced and life- styles disturbed. Have good arrangements been made to modify these inconveniences? Is the closing really necessary? Is there no hope for enrollment increasing or renovation? Are small schools unnecessary?

In regard to a new school, location is always a concern. but forming focus groups and exploring various options can bring different insights to the foreground. In one place it was recently discovered that a new building was planned to be built on historic lands; in another city, it was discovered that old Indian burial grounds were going to be disturbed. These sorts of con- cerns are often found out in a timely manner when there are processes in place that provide for local involvement.

Curriculum Strategies and Courses of Instruction

Even persons who have difficulty spelling curriculum care about how the children and youth are being instructed and in what they are being instructed. And, what is being taught and how it is being taught have been, seemingly forever, issues of great debate in this group or that. Sex educa- tion? If and when? Physical education for everyone? How about someone’s objection to this on religious or other grounds? How about a special program for my child who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Shall it be the “whole-language approach” or shall it be “ phonics”? Or both? Or some other approach? Or, what about the Common Core? Is it really an attempt to federalize school curriculum? And on and on. Better to stay familiar with the law and with good educational practice.

Violence in Schools

It is a worried and worrisome society. Incidents of shootings, mass murders, and drug use in school make the headlines of newspapers and become the lead stories on the television news. School leaders have responded with policies of zero tolerance and the expenditure of budgetary

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dollars for their own police forces, security gates, and special schools for transgressors. Is this concern new? Casella wrote:

Concerns about violence have a long history. The first 19th century common schools were devel- oped partly to curb teenage delinquency—to “tame” new immigrants and “savage” American Indians. Later in the 1960’s and 1970’s as greater numbers of students rebelled against injustice and authority, discussions about school violence became more heated, culminating in 1977 in the Safe School Study (National Institute of Education, 1977) mandated by the U.S. Congress.4

The Safe School Study found that violence was an important problem, and that inconsistent dis- cipline contributes to the problem. Yet, little was done for 10 years, and then antidrug programs were established. It was not until the 1990s that other legislation, such as the Crime Control Act of 1990, was passed.

Based on this and later legislation, schools have developed policies such as zero tolerance to address the issues of violence, sometimes with success and sometimes not. School police forces, school protection devices, alternative schools, and zero tolerance are necessary steps, perhaps, to assist in the development of a safe school environment, but each must be used with good judgment. We wrote in Chapter 5 about ways to achieve positive student control, but we also need to return to a concern for good judgment. Zero tolerance means not putting up with unacceptable behavior. It does not mean one-size-fits-all punishment. That kind of policy can be seen as one for administrative convenience, not justice. Punishing everyone the same without regard for maturity is simply an unwise practice.

High-Stakes Testing

High-stakes testing has become an issue that, in some places, is inflaming the teaching profes- sion, the publics, and legislators. The testing movement began as a reform movement to improve instruction and the education of young people. Former president George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; 2001). The model was similar to the program that was developed when he was governor of Texas. Testing became a mark of the school accountability movement.

Critics, and there are many, see it as an overemphasis on numbers and a restrictive process that impacts teacher creativity. (In some places, the effort to look good has led to cheating by teachers and administrators to improve scores.) Parent and teacher groups have rejected the proc- ess as interfering with instruction as well.

NCLB required that all states create their own testing programs. There have been varied approaches to this. Some states created a list of tests to be given at various grade levels. Third, fifth, and eight are common. In 2011, 48 percent of the nation’s schools fell short of the law’s benchmarks. The Office of Education has, on request from states and schools, granted many waivers. It did not happen that the NCLB 2014 goal of 100 percent success on math and reading scores was met.

Most schools are beset, and administrators and teachers remember vividly the time some years ago when students spent one afternoon taking the California Achievement Test or a similar test in most schools around the nation. Diagnosis was the goal. Now, tests in some states require as much as two days. Even more time than this is spent by teachers preparing their students for

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the tests. Evaluation has now become the goal—evaluation of teachers and administrators and evaluation of schools. And both the profession of education and parents are disturbed by the disruption in schooling and the emphasis on testing.

The question being raised by many parent groups and professional associations, as well as by legislators, is “What good is coming of this?”5 That question remains unanswered.

Helicopter Parents

Frequently, school leaders lament a lack of parent or caregiver interest in what happens at school. There is an opposite extreme to this lament, however, and that is the helicopter parent—the par- ent who cannot let go, who is seemingly forever in the office complaining about things “that have been done to my child.” Small travesties or complex issues, if the particular child is involved, Mom or Dad is at the school calling for correction! Parents such as those are needy, overanxious, and sometimes just plain pesky and schools at every level have to find effective ways to deal with them. They text message their children in middle school, use the cell phone like an umbilical cord, and have little compunction about marching into a second-grade classroom to scream at teacher about a grade.

What can be done about the helicopter parent? Active listening and examination of school practices and policies seem to be the best courses of action. If everything that the school has done is proper, then one simply relaxes and does one’s best to deal with the irate parent. But dealing with the helicopter parent does take time, valuable time; nevertheless, deal you must. Just make sure school policies and procedures are sensible and applied fairly. Some schools, with the leadership of the principal and alert guidance counselors, are developing seminars about how to interact with helicopter parents. Schools in Phoenix have developed a seminar called “Managing Millennial Parents” about how to handle micromanaging parents, who need to handle every detail of their children’s lives to the point that this limits the ability of young people to become independent.

The Complex Community

Multi-ethnicity and cultural pluralism characterize society, and the many groups and individuals that comprise a neighborhood, community, a neighborhood, and a city reflect varying points of view and hold diverse opinions about the several agencies that are established to deliver services to them.6

A high-performing school requires broad-based community support, and support will come from communities that are well informed and well engaged in the educative processes that go on in the school. This does not happen automatically.

Communication between parents and other citizens, businesses, health- and social-care agencies, several levels of government, teachers, administrators, and students is essential and is the glue that binds the learning community. Establishing good communication processes is an essential task of the principal. It is not easy. Communities are diverse, attitudes vary, and formal and informal forces vie for attention and make demands on the school that are often contradictory and at cross-purposes. The territory is complex, and so must be the school–community public relations and marketing program.

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Schools do not exist apart from the society to be served. They get their support from the “outside” world, and those who make policy and those who permit policy to be made reside in the outside world. Inevitably and inexorably, individuals and groups attempt to establish policies and procedures in the school that are consistent with—indeed generative and supportive of— their values, beliefs, and ideals.

These are days of much individual school-based autonomy and in some places a mandated use of such decisional mechanisms as citizen and teacher advisory councils organized at the school level. The principal’s role as a community relations expert has expanded and pressures have mounted for more effective ways to communicate with the “publics” composing the school community. These pressures are visited on teachers as well.

To perform this role even adequately well requires both knowledge about the makeup of the school community and about how best to communicate with community members. It is increasingly apparent that the strongest support base for the school is grassroots in nature, but there are seemingly infinite varieties of grass to be found in the lawns of many school communities. Moreover, it is not only parents who feel they have a vested interest in schooling practices. Many other community members have a vested interest as well.

Also, one need not be a graduate sociologist to be aware of the impacts that phenomena such as technocracy, urbanization, and the increasing complexity of social relationships have had on the nature of interaction between school and community. The increasing esotericism of pro- fessional educational practices, a concomitant of these changes, has widened the gap between school and community. The dissolution of the small, closely knit communities of years past has made schools and the people in the area unsure of each other. The same situation exists in the medical and legal professions as well as other welfare delivery agencies that attempt to address the varied and complex needs of people who live in a community.

The school is the closest community agency to residents, in both a literal and figurative sense. In geographic proximity, the school is “just around the corner” and often becomes the first line of communication with the area served. It is closer than the mayor’s office; in most cases, it is even closer than the fire station. And, the school greatly affects the community’s most prized possessions—its children and its pocketbook. It should not be surprising, then, that the schools are frequently the subject of perusal and subsequent criticism, and sometimes the result of the perusal is more visceral than cerebral.

Informal Community Forces

Influence and power are distributed unevenly throughout communities. Moreover, informal power must be distinguished from formal power. Formal power is manifest in the elected and appointed governmental offices of the community—the mayor, city council, police chief, superintendent, and board of school trustees, for example. Informal power refers to the ability of an individual or group to get certain things done in the community in a way that is satisfying to the individual or group. It may refer to individuals who are at or near the top of their respective social or occupational hierarchies. It may also refer to groups that are com- posed of, or individuals who represent, members of various special-interest groups, and who, on any given issue, mobilize substantial portions of the population to respond in a particular way.

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The ability to influence depends on the presence of two elements: substantial resources and commitment. Substantial resources do not necessarily mean control of large sums of dollars; it may simply mean the control of large groups of people. People are a resource. Most of the early civil rights successes were characterized by displays of latent power and were conducted without huge sums of money, relatively speaking. Commitment refers to a singular belief in the basic rightness of whatever is being proposed (i.e., the group “hangs together” no matter what), and when coupled with control of some resources, a formidable force is present.

Neighborhood Influence Systems

As communities have become more and more complex, neighborhood influence systems have become increasingly important. Such influence systems often reflect racial, ethnic, religious, or economic homogeneity.

Neighborhood influence systems may be especially important within the principal’s sphere of interaction. We noted earlier that the individual school building remains, in most places, the closest community agency, certainly in terms of geographic proximity. Thus, it is handy, if noth- ing else, to members of the immediate neighborhood who have opinions to express. Moreover, school personnel, and especially the principal, are in an excellent position to feel the pulse of the surrounding area and to interact directly with that group.

Individual schools need to develop effective mechanisms to receive information from, and to dispense information to, neighborhood leadership. Research suggests that an individual com- munity member’s decision to support or not support any particular community issue is more often than not based on the influence of friends and neighbors rather than on the presence of any outside objective data. The school principal must become familiar with the leadership structure of the neighborhood that the individual school may serve.

Leadership structure exists in any community or neighborhood, except the most anomic. This structure may be readily identified, often through reputational means by surveying the store- front churches as well as the well-known churches, the local welfare agencies, the better and less well-known social clubs, and the membership of union locals, among any number of other some- what formal sources. If a community is characterized by heterogeneity in racial, ethnic, or social makeup, more than the usual effort will be required, because well-known organizations may not reflect this heterogeneity. Furthermore, a neighborhood leadership structure may not be com- posed of, or contain very many, people who are also parents of children attending the schools.

Traditional community groups often do not have a membership composed of anything approximating the real nature of the community or the neighborhood served by the schools. In addition, there may exist a leadership structure that has not yet been recognized but that has important things to say about schools. An examination of the membership of local, formal parent–teacher organization and a comparison of certain characteristics of these people with the general demographic characteristics of the student body of the school may reveal that certain groups of people are missing. If different kinds of people are missing, one can be sure that many key neighborhood influentials are not being reached by school messages.

Community Groups

The most intense memberships are held in groups that can be classified as blut und bod. These are groups with kinship and territorial bonds rooted in certain ethnic, racial, or historical ties.

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A common language, a common dietary [sic], a common neighborhood, common experience with outsiders, a common history, make people feel more comfortable with one another, more at ease. They understand one another, they read one another; they get one another’s messages. They feel they can count on one another for support. They constitute an in group; everyone else is an out group. The bonds that hold people together also separate them from others; invisible lines are drawn to protect the boundaries between them and outsiders.7

Moreover, people in the community are also often members of an array of different formal and informal groups that may impinge on the schools. They are members of clubs and associa- tions, some blut und bod in nature—for example, self-help groups such as the American Indian Movement, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), or the National Organization of Women. People belong, as well, to unions and professional associations, to political parties, and to neighborhood improvement leagues. All of these organizations demand loyalty from their members and may from time to time oppose certain school system procedures, policies, and practices. Membership in what at times may be adversary groups can be the source of much conflict between community and school.

Pressure Groups

Pressure groups can be distinguished from the usual community decision-making systems because of the relatively short-lived nature of their activities and their tendency to form and re-form around issues or causes. Often, a group will form because of a specific decision made by the school leadership, which is perceived to have an impact on the group’s life space or belief system.

It is clearly the right of citizens to protest when they feel that the school is failing to accom- plish the right thing. Conflict may not be inevitable; in fact, it is frequent in any society. Conflict is not, however, necessarily disruptive or negative. Often, it is out of conflict that greater under- standing results, provided the situation is characterized by openness, a willingness to compro- mise, and well-understood and agreed-upon procedures for resolution.

Pressure groups should not be dismissed lightly. They are a source of great disruption in many communities and sometimes a source of productive change. It is difficult to put the term pressure group in a noninflammatory context. Immediately, thoughts of book burnings, witch hunts, placard-carrying demonstrators, and impassioned pleas from the pulpit or the podium come to mind. One may also imagine school boards and superintendents hastily capitulating to the onslaught of such charges that the schools are “godless,” that the English department is assigning lascivious literature, and that sex education is corrupting youth, among a host of similar kinds of charges, emotion-ridden in context and within which rational behavior often is nearly impossible.

But a pressure group may also consist of parents arguing persuasively for the return of an art program. It may be a collection of citizens raising important issues of equity or insisting on balanced reporting in textbooks about the contributions of minorities. It may be a group raising questions about district employment practices or the lack of bilingual programs, among other issues of equity. Most of the legislation and court orders ensuring or extending rights at local, state, and national levels have occurred because, early on, a small group of concerned citizens organized to call attention to an undesirable situation.

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Negotiating with Pressure Groups. From time to time, all school administrators will be confronted with requests from organized groups of people who represent a particular point of view about a school-related issue. Frequently, such pressure groups begin their inquiries at the school level in the principal’s office. The issues may run the gamut, from complaints about teach- ers, textbooks, or specific courses of study to alleged institutional racism and demands for more equitable staffing or pupil assignment decisions. Often concerns are legitimate concerns, but legitimate or not, they must always be dealt with sensitively and sensibly. The following guide- lines may help a besieged principal.

1. Identifying. An early identification should be made of the group that is in opposition to, or is likely to be in opposition to, certain school programs. Who are they? More importantly, who are the leaders?

2. Discussing. Can the leaders be talked with? Once the opposing group and the leader(s) of that group have been identified, it is appropriate to engage in a closed-door session to explore the elements of the issue. The principal may gain a more definitive notion of just what is troubling the group. This meeting or series of meetings may result in ways, if the cause is legitimate, for the school to help the group achieve its goals. It may require great insight to find out what the real issue is, because stated “reasons” for opposition to this or that school issue are often at variance with the real causative factors. (At this point, it is also important to apprise the central office of the potential hostile situation and to seek counsel.)

3. Analyzing. After the informal meetings, it is important to reach a decision. Some important points must be considered at this time, including the question of how strong the opposition really is. Do these people have a good chance to “beat” the school in its present position? Most impor- tantly, do they have a solid point on which to differ with the school? At this time a decision must be made about whether the issue will be fought on the basis of the initial positions of both sides or whether some accord is possible.

In all situations, it is important to determine what the real goal is, and what results or gains can be expected from the achievement of that goal. In other words, is the school’s position or is the school administrator’s position tenable? If so, evidence must be present to substantiate why it is tenable. Many school administrators have ended up in great difficulty because of a refusal to negotiate or compromise or because of an unwillingness to give up irrelevant points of contention.

4. Negotiating. Is there room for compromise? The political system under which a democracy operates functions on compromise. Politics is the delicate art of compromise. Desirable changes often can be achieved without compromising principles and without loss of integrity.

Of course, compromising may not be necessary. Perhaps simply sitting down with mem- bers of the pressure group and explaining the school’s position and the facts may dissuade the group from further action. However, administrators who have engaged in community conflict situations over the years are likely to suggest that compromise and negotiation is the more likely process. The pressure group’s motives may be highly complex. Its needs and goals are every bit as important to its membership as are the needs and goals of the particular administrator or school system in question.

In any effort to influence or achieve compromise, timing is important. One really can’t wait until an organized campaign is underway to effect compromises or modify points of view.

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The time to influence a pressure group is before the particular group has launched its initial fusillade and before school personnel are totally and publicly committed to a position. Common sense suggests that it is increasingly difficult to change someone or some group when there will be much loss of face, real or imagined, by doing so.

5. Marshaling Resources. Seek help from other community members. Assuming that all efforts to negotiate with the opposition are unsuccessful, what does the administrator try next? The first step is to find out who is on the school’s side, or who it appears ought to be on the school’s side. Some community analysis can be conducted even at this stage and may prove fruitful. Who besides the school really stands to lose? Principals should not forget about other less-organized neighborhood groups of people who, although they seemingly may have a low potential for power, might have a high potential for unity on the particular issue and who could be called on for counsel and help.

Evaluating the Legitimacy of the Critic. Members of the community have the right to legiti- mately question and criticize the schools, although defining the word legitimate in this context is difficult. One of the best benchmarks for judging legitimacy is to observe the behavior exhibited by the particular group. Is the group willing to meet with appropriate educational system person- nel out of the glare of TV lights or without benefit of newspaper rhetoric? Is the group willing to consider other sides of the issue? Is criticism mostly characterized by reason and rationality, or does it seem mostly emotional in nature? Will the critics accept demonstrable facts? If these conditions are not met, then one may question the “legitimacy” of the critic and prepare for battle. Figure 15.5 presents ways of judging the legitimacy of a pressure group.8

Anticipating Obvious Hot-Button Issues. Why should a school leader be surprised when some parents express concern about some school books with themes or language that they con- sider inappropriate10 or about a new school rule that requires a uniform dress code? Why should there be surprise when a school that has a multicultural and/or multiracial population evidences discord and prejudice or charges of “unfair” treatment? Or that there is concern about a poor showing on statewide or districtwide tests?

Such issues have arisen historically and recur frequently. One is left to wonder why anyone would be unprepared for this sort of occurrence. The solution, of course, is to realize that such flashpoints will occur and to develop policies and procedures to handle them fairly.

FIGURE 15.5 Judging the Legitimacy of Groups9

1. Generalization: Does the critic generalize from one or a very few incidents to make all-encompassing statements?

2. Acceptance of Data: Does the critic accept demonstrable fact?

3. Conclusions: Does the critic recognize that a conclusion, which while less certain, is indicated nevertheless by the weight of existing evidence?

4. Honesty: Does the critic distort evidence and facts?

5. Acceptance of the Rules of Logical Inference: Is the critic willing to examine other possible explanations for a condition before making a conclusion?

6. Emotional Distance: Is the critic able to distinguish between evidence and emotion?

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Providing Well-Developed Policies. If conflict can be expected on educational issues, if ideo- logical unity is not characteristic of many complex communities, and if criticism can be expected as a part of the normal life of the administrator of any public institution, what can be done to modify the divisive effects of such actions and instead capitalize on the rich diversity of views and opinions to improve the schools? Foremost is to provide a broad set of policies, both at the school-district level as well as at the school-building level, that establishes a framework within which diverging views can be heard in a regular and systematic manner. Such a framework pro- vides, in effect, procedural due process whereby dissident factions in a community can formally register their concerns.

Figure 15.6 is a sample form that some districts provide to individuals who are objecting to the use of certain educational material. Such a complaint form could be adapted to other issues and, if used judiciously, provide a vehicle for citizens to make their views known in a rational and systematic way.

Working with Review Boards. Individual principals would be wise to establish some kind of review body on whom the principal could rely for advice, counsel, and the development of criteria for judging potentially controversial instructional materials. Involving an array of appro- priate personnel in the development of policies to anticipate problems establishes a basis for

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FIGURE 15.6 Citizen’s Request for Reconsideration of Educational Medium

Title of medium

Type of medium: (circle)

Book Film Filmstrip Recording (other)

Author/artist/composer/other

Publisher/producer (if known)

Request initiated by Phone

Address

Complainant represents

Self

(Name of organization)

1. After having read/viewed/listened to the item in question, to what do you object, and why? (Please be specific; cite pages, frame, other)

2. What do you believe is the theme of this item?

3. What do you feel might be the result of students reading/viewing/listening to this item?

4. For what age group would you recommend this item?

5. Other comments

Date Signature of Complainant

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information sharing and good decision making. Principals cannot be expected to know every- thing. The advice and counsel of the school staff, as well as the community, and the development of broadly based policies and policy review boards can provide for effective decision making and intelligent responses to questions that may come from groups or individuals in the community.

Working with Other Community Agencies. Many community agencies and organizations in addition to schools have—or could have—an impact on the quality of children’s lives. The school principal is in an uncommonly good position to coordinate the efforts of these agencies.

It often happens that the principal serves in that role anyway, because the elementary school is usually the closest social agency available to patrons. And patrons look to their schools for all sorts of help that has to do with their families’ well-being. The “closeness” of the school is for many as much a matter of psychological proximity as it is a physical proximity. Many com- munity members look to the school for help in matters neither of the school’s doing nor jurisdic- tion simply because they know of no other place to turn.

The sad fact is that in a complex society the important and varied welfare delivery agen- cies often operate in a most uncoordinated way. Principals frequently find themselves dealing with court orders, child protective services, police departments, city and state health and human services departments, and businesses and industries in an effort to help just one particular child or family. Sometimes these agencies even conflict with each other in their efforts and in their policies.

We are not aware of any administrator training programs that specifically prepare princi- pals for this add-on role in the community. But it is there, and while it may not be a part of the job description, effective principals recognize the importance of developing good contacts with these outside agencies and providing referral and follow-up services to their patrons who may be in need.

Developing close relationships with the police department only makes good sense. Becoming personally connected with directors and counselors of child protective services, among other welfare delivery agencies, will pay rich dividends. Business partnerships such as adopt-a-school can provide enriched educational offerings as well as create an intimate involve- ment of the private sector in community service and form an important support base.

Locally elected legislators often provide a useful connection when school issues are a stake. Knowing who these people are and developing relationships through guest speaker pro- grams and study group memberships may provide much help when political issues and potential legislation have an impact on the school.

Formal Community Forces

The biggest problem facing schools is fragmentation and overload . . . schools are suffering the . . . burden of having a torrent of unwanted, uncoordinated policies and innovations raining down on them from external hierarchical bureaucracies.11

Agencies at all three levels of government exert influence and control over the formal education system, often in direct prescriptive and regulatory ways. Even though locally managed and sub- stantially supported by locally assessed taxes, as established by the law, public school districts are really state institutions; school boards of education members are state officers. In practice, of

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course, the support and control of the public school systems in this nation are vested in federal, state, intermediate, and local governments. A kind of partnership thus exists, although the nature and role of the partners vary among the states.

In the federal system of the U.S. government, education is a function of the separate states. Of course, no state may provide for a school system that violates the constitutional rights of citizens. The U.S. Constitution itself is strangely quiet about education. The state receives its authority to operate and control public education within its boundaries through the enactment of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.12 Thus, the education system is established under pow- ers reserved to the states, and the manner in which the system is maintained is a plenary responsi- bility of the state. Private, parochial, and charter schools also operate under the aegis of the states.

All of the state constitutions specifically provide for public school systems. The legal basis on which the schools are conducted and maintained may be found in state constitutional and statutory law and in the body of common law as it is established by judicial decisions. Opinions written by state attorneys general also have an impact on the operation of the schools until such time as these might be set aside by statute or by the judiciary.

The Local Board of Education

The policymaking body of a school district is the board of education. The board of education is a corporate and political body and has the power expressly and implicitly given to it by statute. In many communities, members of the board of education are elected by the people in the com- munities that they serve; others have appointed boards of education. The method of the selection of members for the lay governing boards of private and parochial schools varies widely.

Regardless of the method by which members are selected, the duties of the school board are both legislative and quasi-judicial. The local school board has great latitude in daily operation of the schools, subject always, of course, to constitutional and statutory limitations.

The size of boards varies considerably both within states as well as between the various states. Although uncommon, some local school boards have as many as 17 members. Legal requirements for school board membership are minimal, usually including no more than such prerequisites as being a registered voter in the district, being nominated for the office, and being elected. Age requirements are common, and certain people often may not serve on a board of education if they hold some other governmental position that would be deemed a conflict of interest.

What local boards of education can do is circumscribed by a host of state and federal law, court opinion at both levels, attorneys general opinions at both levels, and expressed local com- munity expectations (see Figure 15.7).

State Education Agencies

Within the limitations of a particular state constitution, the state’s legislature has wide power to determine the purposes and the procedures for the subordinate levels of the education hierarchy. Usually, however, the laws issuing from the state legislature deal with general powers and pur- poses, leaving specific implementation to a state education agency and various intermediate and local school systems. The state education agency, or state department of education, itself is a creature of the legislature and is imbued with certain discretionary powers.