Referendum Countdown
By Elenora Di Liscia
Occasionally, schools are faced with funding needs that can’t be met through the usual avenues of support. Sometimes, funds are needed for a big project such as building an addition or even building a brand new school. With one-time projects such as these, schools often pursue a bond sale. Operating and education expenses may also strain a school’s budget. Schools often fulfill these ongoing financial needs with a tax rate increase.
Whether it’s pursuing a tax rate increase or a bond campaign, your school district will be facing an election campaign that will require plenty of planning and volunteer hours. At different stages, your campaign will require research, fundraising, education, marketing, and efforts to ensure that “yes” voters get to the polls. Depending on how extensive your campaign is, there may also be voter registration drives, surveys, and a need for a space to use as campaign headquarters.
The following is the story of how one school district embarked on a successful campaign for a tax rate increase.
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Volunteers receive instructions before they start canvassing Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69. |
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With assigned routes in hand, canvassing volunteers have plenty of work ahead of them. |
Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69, located just north of Chicago, was in dire financial straits after a tax referendum failed by a slim margin. When the resulting budget ax fell, the K–8 district was left limping. To trim approximately $900,000 from the budget, the district cut 10 teaching positions, half of its art and music programs, and all after-school activities. Once the cuts took effect, class sizes swelled as high as 30 in some lower-grade classes, and students received music instruction only once a week and art only every two weeks. Students at the district’s junior high had won a math competition the previous year, but now there was no longer a team. Neighboring school districts scrambled to fill gaps in their sports calendars caused by the elimination of the District 69 soccer teams. All after-school sports and activities—including yearbook and drama club—were gone.
But out of the turmoil, an effort arose that would ultimately unite the community, win a new referendum, and lead to a stronger, better school district. Immediately after the initial referendum failed, a team of parents and community members sprang into action, planning the next referendum, still 11 months away. The school district superintendent tapped architect and PTA member Ann Clark to lead the campaign. Clark began by hosting meetings for people potentially interested in chairing the referendum campaign’s various subcommittees. The 20 parents who attended, many of them PTA members, became the core of the new District 69 Referendum Committee.
Here is a month-by-month description of the campaign.
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Canvassing volunteers study their assigned routes before visiting households of potential “yes” voters. |
Organizing volunteers and defining the issue
10 months to go. Clark seeks the advice of experts. Two neighboring school districts share with the District 69 Referendum Committee the strategies they used to win their own referendums. One district recommends hiring a consulting firm.
9 months to go. The committee decides to hire a consulting firm. Committee members attend the consultants’ seven-hour seminar on winning a referendum. A seminar leader recommends conducting a communitywide survey in order to develop an effective campaign theme and message. The committee votes to go ahead with a survey, even though it means that committee members risk paying the costs out of their own pockets if fundraising efforts prove inadequate.
The committee divides into subcommittees for communications, canvassing/community outreach, fundraising, and elections. Responding to the consultants’ advice to register potential voters, committee members receive training to become voter registrars.
8 months to go. The committee starts registering voters at all school events.
Introducing the issue and raising money
7 months to go. District 69 has long battled a public relations problem. Parents are unhappy with decisions of past administrators and feel that the district has routinely ignored parents’ input. To combat these negative perceptions, the referendum committee begins the community engagement phase of the campaign.
Meanwhile, committee members solicit local businesses and school vendors for contributions to the campaign. Funding trickles in slowly. Committee members ask for contributions from friends and family as well. (Since the referendum committee is a political action committee, the donations are not tax deductible.)
6 and 5 months to go. The committee sponsors two community engagement nights intended to inform parents about the district’s problems and to explain the reasons for the funding crisis. The committee hands out informational materials at the events and obtains local press coverage. The school district’s PTA donates babysitting services.
4 months to go. The consultants conduct the communitywide survey.
Persuading the voters
3 months to go. The consultants meet with the referendum committee to brainstorm a theme and message based on the survey results. The winner: “Restore our programs now so our kids can compete and our neighborhoods stay strong.” It is agreed that, from now on, all communications from the committee must stay on message.
The focus now is to persuade rather than inform the voters. Armed with the official slogan, the communications subcommittee quickly hammers out talking points, as well as various phone and canvassing scripts, campaign mailers, and canvassing brochures. A PTA member designs the campaign website. The communications subcommittee sends out press releases at every opportunity.
The fundraising subcommittee obtains the use of an abandoned restaurant to set up a campaign headquarters. Subcommittee chairs now meet weekly.
2 months to go. The president of the school district’s PTA, Mylinda LaPaglia, places the PTA’s stand on the referendum up for a vote among PTA members. Support is unanimous and offers invaluable newspaper publicity. The PTA had not voted on the previous referendum. (Keep in mind that if a PTA spends money in support of a tax rate increase or bond referendum, the PTA’s expenditures must be filed with the state. Contact your secretary of state for more information.)
The consultants provide the referendum committee with a list of identified potential “yes” voters. The committee must begin canvassing these voters four weeks in advance of the referendum election. By contacting parents and teachers, the canvassing committee rounds up the needed volunteers.
During the canvassing period, the communications subcommittee mails to potential “yes” voters the first of its campaign mailers. The school district sends out two newsletters to keep parents informed about the referendum.
Support for the referendum swells as community members take part. The mood during canvassing is upbeat. One school’s principal and teachers cheer volunteers by singing “Restore,” the campaign’s theme, set to the tune of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
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Volunteers are cheered by finding supporters as they go door to door. |
The week of the election. A few days before the election, the communications subcommittee obtains letters from supporters to submit to the local press.
Volunteers begin making get-out-the-vote phone calls. “Yes” voters identified from the canvassing efforts are called and reminded to get to the polls.
The committee fears a setback when the village is papered with anti-referendum fliers. The consultants advise the committee not to respond to the negative publicity at this late date, and assure the committee that this last-minute attack will not harm the referendum effort.
Getting voters to the polls
Election Day. The elections committee has recruited poll watchers for each of the school district’s precincts. The elections cochairs are at the campaign headquarters, coordinating poll watchers as well as volunteers who are transporting “yes” voters to the polls.
By remaining at the polls after they close, the poll watchers, in most cases, are able to obtain the tabulated results from the new electronic voting machines and return to campaign headquarters with the results from their precincts. The committee, while guardedly optimistic, is forced to wait for the final results until the next day.
The day after the election and beyond. It’s official! The referendum has passed by 11 percent. School principals announce the good news to the students during the lunch hour. The children cheer. The committee holds its victory party the next night.
The campaign headquarters must be cleared out and cleaned up. Final paperwork for the committee’s finances is wrapped up.
The committee decides to use the momentum it has created to deal with other important school district issues, and becomes involved in a campaign to change the way states fund schools—in the hope that referendums will become a thing of the past. Parents within the district are now better acquainted with each other, and much of the negative feeling toward the district has dissipated. With its programs restored and enhanced, the district looks forward to a positive future.
Eleonora di Liscia is a writer and an attorney in Skokie, Illinois, as well as the proud mother of an 11-year-old girl. Last year, she served as chair of the communications subcommittee for the District 69 Referendum Committee.Tips for Holding a Voter Registration Drive
by Meghan Moyer
Voter registration drives should be targeted toward people who will likely support your position on the referendum. These people could include PTA members, parents with school-age children, and people who use public facilities such as libraries. Keep a list of the people you register, along with their contact information, so you can contact them and gain their support. Don’t forget to spend extra effort making sure these new voters show up on Election Day; newly registered voters tend to have a low turnout at the polls.
- Learn more about how PTAs can be involved in election activities by visiting the Grassroots Advocacy section of www.pta.org (look under the Issues and Action heading).
- Alliance for Justice offers resources for non-profits engaged in advocacy and elections. Learn about topics such as ballot measures and permissible election activities by visiting www.afj.org/nonprofit/.
To Bond or Not to Bond?
Bond referendums tend to be used for building projects that require a finite amount of money. They operate like loans and must be paid back. Voters must approve a school bond referendum.
Tax rate increases are primarily used for school operating and education expenses. They are permanent increases to a tax rate to fund ongoing expenses. Usually, a referendum is for a property tax increase, though, depending on the state’s tax formula, the increase might be to the sales tax instead. Again, voters must approve the measure.
Some districts do use bonds to pay for operating expenses. Depending on its funding formula, a district may not be able to raise the tax rate; or a district may know that it couldn’t pass a tax rate increase. Bonds are usually easier to pass than tax rate increases.
Referendum Countdown
By Elenora Di Liscia
Occasionally, schools are faced with funding needs that can’t be met through the usual avenues of support. Sometimes, funds are needed for a big project such as building an addition or even building a brand new school. With one-time projects such as these, schools often pursue a bond sale. Operating and education expenses may also strain a school’s budget. Schools often fulfill these ongoing financial needs with a tax rate increase.
Whether it’s pursuing a tax rate increase or a bond campaign, your school district will be facing an election campaign that will require plenty of planning and volunteer hours. At different stages, your campaign will require research, fundraising, education, marketing, and efforts to ensure that “yes” voters get to the polls. Depending on how extensive your campaign is, there may also be voter registration drives, surveys, and a need for a space to use as campaign headquarters.
The following is the story of how one school district embarked on a successful campaign for a tax rate increase.
|
|
Volunteers receive instructions before they start canvassing Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69. |
|
|
With assigned routes in hand, canvassing volunteers have plenty of work ahead of them. |
Skokie/Morton Grove School District 69, located just north of Chicago, was in dire financial straits after a tax referendum failed by a slim margin. When the resulting budget ax fell, the K–8 district was left limping. To trim approximately $900,000 from the budget, the district cut 10 teaching positions, half of its art and music programs, and all after-school activities. Once the cuts took effect, class sizes swelled as high as 30 in some lower-grade classes, and students received music instruction only once a week and art only every two weeks. Students at the district’s junior high had won a math competition the previous year, but now there was no longer a team. Neighboring school districts scrambled to fill gaps in their sports calendars caused by the elimination of the District 69 soccer teams. All after-school sports and activities—including yearbook and drama club—were gone.
But out of the turmoil, an effort arose that would ultimately unite the community, win a new referendum, and lead to a stronger, better school district. Immediately after the initial referendum failed, a team of parents and community members sprang into action, planning the next referendum, still 11 months away. The school district superintendent tapped architect and PTA member Ann Clark to lead the campaign. Clark began by hosting meetings for people potentially interested in chairing the referendum campaign’s various subcommittees. The 20 parents who attended, many of them PTA members, became the core of the new District 69 Referendum Committee.
Here is a month-by-month description of the campaign.
|
|
|
Canvassing volunteers study their assigned routes before visiting households of potential “yes” voters. |
Organizing volunteers and defining the issue
10 months to go. Clark seeks the advice of experts. Two neighboring school districts share with the District 69 Referendum Committee the strategies they used to win their own referendums. One district recommends hiring a consulting firm.
9 months to go. The committee decides to hire a consulting firm. Committee members attend the consultants’ seven-hour seminar on winning a referendum. A seminar leader recommends conducting a communitywide survey in order to develop an effective campaign theme and message. The committee votes to go ahead with a survey, even though it means that committee members risk paying the costs out of their own pockets if fundraising efforts prove inadequate.
The committee divides into subcommittees for communications, canvassing/community outreach, fundraising, and elections. Responding to the consultants’ advice to register potential voters, committee members receive training to become voter registrars.
8 months to go. The committee starts registering voters at all school events.
Introducing the issue and raising money
7 months to go. District 69 has long battled a public relations problem. Parents are unhappy with decisions of past administrators and feel that the district has routinely ignored parents’ input. To combat these negative perceptions, the referendum committee begins the community engagement phase of the campaign.
Meanwhile, committee members solicit local businesses and school vendors for contributions to the campaign. Funding trickles in slowly. Committee members ask for contributions from friends and family as well. (Since the referendum committee is a political action committee, the donations are not tax deductible.)
6 and 5 months to go. The committee sponsors two community engagement nights intended to inform parents about the district’s problems and to explain the reasons for the funding crisis. The committee hands out informational materials at the events and obtains local press coverage. The school district’s PTA donates babysitting services.
4 months to go. The consultants conduct the communitywide survey.
Persuading the voters
3 months to go. The consultants meet with the referendum committee to brainstorm a theme and message based on the survey results. The winner: “Restore our programs now so our kids can compete and our neighborhoods stay strong.” It is agreed that, from now on, all communications from the committee must stay on message.
The focus now is to persuade rather than inform the voters. Armed with the official slogan, the communications subcommittee quickly hammers out talking points, as well as various phone and canvassing scripts, campaign mailers, and canvassing brochures. A PTA member designs the campaign website. The communications subcommittee sends out press releases at every opportunity.
The fundraising subcommittee obtains the use of an abandoned restaurant to set up a campaign headquarters. Subcommittee chairs now meet weekly.
2 months to go. The president of the school district’s PTA, Mylinda LaPaglia, places the PTA’s stand on the referendum up for a vote among PTA members. Support is unanimous and offers invaluable newspaper publicity. The PTA had not voted on the previous referendum. (Keep in mind that if a PTA spends money in support of a tax rate increase or bond referendum, the PTA’s expenditures must be filed with the state. Contact your secretary of state for more information.)
The consultants provide the referendum committee with a list of identified potential “yes” voters. The committee must begin canvassing these voters four weeks in advance of the referendum election. By contacting parents and teachers, the canvassing committee rounds up the needed volunteers.
During the canvassing period, the communications subcommittee mails to potential “yes” voters the first of its campaign mailers. The school district sends out two newsletters to keep parents informed about the referendum.
Support for the referendum swells as community members take part. The mood during canvassing is upbeat. One school’s principal and teachers cheer volunteers by singing “Restore,” the campaign’s theme, set to the tune of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
|
|
|
Volunteers are cheered by finding supporters as they go door to door. |
The week of the election. A few days before the election, the communications subcommittee obtains letters from supporters to submit to the local press.
Volunteers begin making get-out-the-vote phone calls. “Yes” voters identified from the canvassing efforts are called and reminded to get to the polls.
The committee fears a setback when the village is papered with anti-referendum fliers. The consultants advise the committee not to respond to the negative publicity at this late date, and assure the committee that this last-minute attack will not harm the referendum effort.
Getting voters to the polls
Election Day. The elections committee has recruited poll watchers for each of the school district’s precincts. The elections cochairs are at the campaign headquarters, coordinating poll watchers as well as volunteers who are transporting “yes” voters to the polls.
By remaining at the polls after they close, the poll watchers, in most cases, are able to obtain the tabulated results from the new electronic voting machines and return to campaign headquarters with the results from their precincts. The committee, while guardedly optimistic, is forced to wait for the final results until the next day.
The day after the election and beyond. It’s official! The referendum has passed by 11 percent. School principals announce the good news to the students during the lunch hour. The children cheer. The committee holds its victory party the next night.
The campaign headquarters must be cleared out and cleaned up. Final paperwork for the committee’s finances is wrapped up.
The committee decides to use the momentum it has created to deal with other important school district issues, and becomes involved in a campaign to change the way states fund schools—in the hope that referendums will become a thing of the past. Parents within the district are now better acquainted with each other, and much of the negative feeling toward the district has dissipated. With its programs restored and enhanced, the district looks forward to a positive future.
Eleonora di Liscia is a writer and an attorney in Skokie, Illinois, as well as the proud mother of an 11-year-old girl. Last year, she served as chair of the communications subcommittee for the District 69 Referendum Committee. 
