Pride and Promise
Lorem Ipsum...
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 10-03-07-23 STATEWIDE PRIDE & PROMISE PUBLIC OUTREACH CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED The Pennsylvania School Boards Association, in partnership with the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association, has launched the Pride & Promise public outreach campaign with a new sequence of initiatives to inform citizens about the good news regarding public education in Pennsylvania. This new Pride & Promise effort follows the previous campaign that operated from October 2002 through May 2004. "Pride & Promise - Public Schools . . . Achieve" originally was developed to increase awareness of the success and value of public education, as well as promote the effectiveness and commitment of local school boards to providing all Pennsylvania children with a high-quality education. "This public awareness effort will promote the significance of public education as the foundation for the economic and intellectual enhancement of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its citizens," said Thomas J. Gentzel, executive director of PSBA. "The campaign also will emphasize how public schools are funded and the important role school directors maintain in their communities." "It is important that school districts, intermediate units and career-technical schools throughout the commonwealth join with us in this campaign by promoting the positive information about public education at the grassroots level," said Jessica H. Long, president of PenSPRA and community relations director for Hempfield School District. "We are excited about the new launch of the Pride & Promise campaign and look forward to working closely with our colleagues at the district level to make this campaign a success." In preparation for the Pride & Promise campaign, a research study was completed to gauge the attitudes and opinions of Pennsylvanians regarding public education. Several months ago, the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College completed the project. More than 1,000 Pennsylvania residents were contacted and asked for their views on public schools and school boards. The survey findings showed that Pennsylvania residents rated the quality of the commonwealth's public schools mildly favorable. However, two very clear messages emerged from the research findings. Survey responses indicated that many citizens do not understand school funding issues, particularly the laws that govern funding decisions made by school boards. However, a majority of the respondents believe that public school funding is not fair and that local public schools need more funding. Additionally, the survey results indicated that many citizens have little familiarity with the roles and responsibilities of public school boards. In response to the research findings, PSBA and PenSPRA have developed a Pride & Promise campaign tool kit to share the positive information about public education at the grassroots level. The materials in this kit are designed to assist school entities in telling their story to their communities. Community leadership, fiscal responsibility and student achievement will be the ongoing messages throughout the campaign. The materials in the campaign kits focus on these themes. The kits were mailed to public school entities' during the last week of September. "Pride & Promise - Public Schools . . . Achieve" officially was launched during the 2007 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in Hershey on Oct. 3. In addition to campaign materials supplied to public school entities, a campaign Web site is available at www.psba.org/pride-and-promise . The Pennsylvania School Boards Association is a nonprofit statewide association of public school boards, pledged to the highest ideals of local lay leadership for the public schools of the commonwealth. Founded in 1895, PSBA was the first school boards association established in the United States. The Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association strengthen and evaluates the leadership role of the school communications profession and promotes school and community partnerships in support of education. -30- |