Sidebar: What works

By Kevin Bushweller

Kevin Bushweller is associate editor of Electronic School.

Winning a school bond package that includes technology is much easier in some communities than in others--after all, each community's needs and attitudes are different. Even so, political consultants and school bond watchers say some universal rules apply to everyone.

One of the first things Jeannie Henry of the South Carolina School Boards Association tells school districts is not to take the bond to voters if the school board itself is divided between supporters and opponents of the bond. "You usually can't win [if that's the case]," says Henry, who frequently presents speeches and workshops on the topic. "We win very, very few referendums when the board is split."

Another rule, she says, is not to ask for excessive amounts of money, especially during difficult economic times. How do you know what is excessive? Henry says bond supporters must poll likely voters to determine the answer. Without polling, you risk not only overestimating, but even underestimating, the amount voters would be likely to support.

Henry offers these additional rules of preparation, especially for bonds that have technology attached:

* Don't confuse voters with a lot of technical terms and technology jargon. It only serves to alienate people.

* Don't oversell the need for technology. Bond advocates need to walk a fine line. On the one hand, they must show the community that students need the technology. But on the other, they must be careful not to exaggerate, which can keep voters from trusting their judgment.

* Don't be overconfident because there is no visible opposition to the bond. Emotional issues, such as the location of new schools, generally stir more opposition than technology in a bond package. But many voters still question the real educational value of technology, and you have to get your message to them about its benefits.

Supporters of a school bond for the Rochester Community Schools in Michigan say they learned several of those lessons last year when they lost a $110 million bond election that would have added $10 million in technology improvements to their schools.

The first problem was that a few members of the school board did not support the bond, according to Irene Connors, president of the board. Without a unified message from the board, she says, voters themselves were more likely to question its value.

Other problems emerged too.

"The public had a preconceived notion there was fluff in the bond," Connors says. The weekend before the election, she says, opponents of the bond waged a fiercely negative campaign. Just 48 hours before the election, opponents published newspaper advertisements making claims about the bond that Connors says were grossly exaggerated or factually incorrect. "We were not prepared for the misinformation that came out," she says. "It was just too late. I'm not sure what you should do when a community is waiting to trounce you."

In the past, playing up the technology component of a bond was not necessarily a helpful way to neutralize opponents, says Kent Price, a political consultant in California who helps schools win bond campaigns. But more recently, he says, technology has become a good selling feature of a bond. "The younger voters are starting to catch on," says Price. "They have a perception that technology is becoming increasingly more important. It's a reflection of our world now."