successfully passing a bond referendum

1
Seniors Count

• successfully passing a bond referendum

Tammi Florio, ED 846
2
Energy
Transportation
Pensions
Health Care
(Finarelli, 2009)
3
REFERENDUM
4
Pre-Referendum Planning
(Kelly Zieper, 2001)
5
Build Capacity

• Coalition of employees and community members
• Engage in intentional, two-way communication with
  internal and external publics
• Key communicators solicit input and report to
  community

(Sheeran, 2003 La Fee, 2009 Holt, Wendt
Smith, 2006)
6
Pre-Referendum Planning

• Determine what is financially and politically
  feasible
• Poll public opinion
• Match community priorities and districts needs

(Sente, 2001)
(Houston, 2009)
(Zieper, 2000)
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Getting YES Voters To the Polls

• PUBLICITY
• District and school newsletters, WebPages, FAQ
  sheets
• Signs in popular locales or in yards of
  influential leaders
• Ads on English/Spanish radio stations or cable TV
  
• Weekly support letters and stories in the
  newspaper
• Videos, blogs, Facebook page, auto-dialer phone
  reminders
• Printed messages on report cards, menus, school
  signage, marquees, T-shirts, pins
• (Thompson Crampton, 2008)

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Face-to-Face Contact
(Sente, 2001)
Mine Plus Nine (Thompson Crampton, 2008)
Neighborhood captains promote the benefits of the
referendum
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Must be interactive
(Sheeran, 2003)
Speakers Bureau
Phone Banks
Post Comments
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Key Stakeholder Groups

• District Employees
• When voters are undecided, they look to teachers
  for guidance (Weathersby, 2002 and Theobold
  Meier, 2002, in Faltys, 2006)
• Non-certified staff are also key communicators
  (Faltys)
• Internal public must have access to accurate
  information (Holt, 1993 in Faltys)

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Key Stakeholder Groups

• Parent Groups
• Parents of school age children, as well as their
  families and friends, are likely to pass a
  referendum (Faltys, 2006)
• Parents reach non-parents in You Plus Two
  campaign (Griffin-Wiesner, 2009)
• Study and target alumni parents whose children
  are no longer in school (Lifto Senden, 2008)

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Senior Citizens
GENERATION GAP
Voters over 50 tend to vote against tax
increases (MacManus, 1996 in Bond0) Higher
percentage of elderly, lower per pupil
spending (Porteba, 1997 in Bondo)
With no children in school, they are less
interested in public education With no chance
to raise their income, they have no desire to
raise their taxes (Plutzer Berkman, 2005)
More likely to vote, less likely to vote yes
13
Senior Citizens
BABY BOOMERS
By 2030, there will be 70 million people over 65
more than the number of students under
15 (Christopherson, 2005) 20 of the population
will be over 65 while the percentage of
families with children reaches an all time
low (Sullivan, 2002)
With more and more people living longer and
having fewer children, is public education
heading toward a funding crisis of epic
proportions?
Not necessarily
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Percentage of Americans Who Feel That Education
Spending Is Too Low
(Plutzer Berkman, 2005, p. 76)
Respondents Interviewed In Respondents Interviewed In Respondents Interviewed In Respondents Interviewed In
Born in 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
1890s 34 31
1900s 40 38 53
1910s 42 41 55 53
1920s 50 47 57 64
1930s 53 54 59 60
1940s 58 57 68 66
1950s 59 66 75 73
1960s 63 74 56
1970s 72 79
1980s 72
Every cohort has become MORE supportive of
educational spending rather than less - even as
voters reach their 60s and 70s!
15
Senior Citizens
Age alone does not lead to referenda failure
(Bondo)

Black and Hispanic seniors approve referenda more
than their Caucasian counterparts.

Seniors with grandchildren in the public school
tend to vote YES!
(Fletcher Kenny, 2008 Tedin, Matland,
Wieher, 2001 as cited in Thompson and Crampton)
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Do not vote enmasse against public education.
They are a heterogeneous group!
Seniors
Seniors who are long time residents are more
likely to support educational spending (Plutzer
Berkman , 2005 in Bondo)
Most seniors age in place rather than
relocating (Christopherson, 2005)
Seniors fear wasteful spending
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Staying Connected
Feelings of alienation cause people to vote
against tax increases. (Horton Thompson in
Bondo)
People who consume the services are more likely
to support the spending. (Simonsen Robbins in
Bondo) Districts can help seniors stay connected
by offering free admission to district events
sports, plays, concerts.
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Intergenerational Opportunities
CAREERS
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Intergenerational Opportunities
MUSIC
CRAFTS
GAMES
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School-Seniors Relations
Retired Senior Volunteer Programs
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School-Seniors Relations
Senior Proms
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How will the bond benefit seniors?
ARTS
TECHNOLOGY
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How will the bond benefit seniors?
WELLNESS
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How will the bond benefit seniors?
TOWN HALL MEETINGS
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After The Vote
Maintain on-going communication with all
stakeholders (Kelly Zieper, 2001)
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After The Vote
Weekly updates How is the money being
spent? Community celebration!
27
References Bondo, M. Put it to the Voter Issues
in School Bond Referenda. Retrieved from
http//www.ipspr.sc.edu/
publication/Bond20Referenda2.pdf Christopherson,
R. C. (2005). Missing the Forest for the Trees
the Illusory Half-Policy of Senior
Citizens Property Tax Relief. Elder Law
Journal, 13, 1, 196-199. Faltys, D. J. (May
2006). Factors Influencing the Successful Passage
of a School Bond Referendum. (Doctoral
dissertation, Texas A M University, 2006).
Retrieved from http//repository.tamu.edu/
bitstream/handle/1969.1/3939/etd-tamu-2006A-EDAD-
Faltys.pdf?sequence130 Finarelli, L.
(December 2009). Act 1 Beginning to Impact Some
Districts. Montgomery News. Griffin-Wiesner,
J. (May-June 2009). Passing a Referendum Against
All Odds One Communitys Comeback Story.
Minnesota School Board Association Journal,
24-26. Holt, C. R., Wendt, M. A., Smith, R. M.
(Winter 2006). School Bond Success An
Exploratory Case Study. The Rural
Educator, 27, 2, 11-18. Houston, P.D.,
Blankestein, A. M., Cole, R. W. (Eds.). (2009).
Leaders as Communicators and Diplomats.
Thousand Oaks, CA Corwin Press. Hoyle, J. R.,
Bjork, L. G., Collier, V., Glass, T. (2005).
The Superintendent as CEO. Thousand
Oaks, CA Corwin Press. Kelly, M. C. H.
Zieper, M. (June 2001). Strategies for Passing a
Bond Referendum. Government Finance
Review, 27-29. LaFee, S. (January 2009).
Transparency. The School Administrator, 66, 1.
Lifto, D. Senden, B. (2008). The
Forgotten Alumni. American School Board Journal,
108, 28- 30. Lifto, D. E. Senden, J. B.
(April 2008). Vote No! Managing Organized
Opposition. The School Administrator,
65, 4, 43-45. Plutzer, E. Berkman, M. (Spring
2005). The Graying of America and Support for
Funding the Nations Schools. Public
Opinion Quarterly, 69,1, 66-86. Sente, C. A.
(2001). The Referendum Strategy Game. Retrieved
from http//www.lib.niu.edu/2001/ip010142
.html Sheeran, T.E. (2003). The Alchemy of
Passing a Property Tax Referendum Reflections
on a Successful Campaign. School
Business Affairs, 5-10. Sullivan, K. J. (2002).
Catching the Age Wave Building Schools With
Senior Citizens in Mind. National
Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities,
1-12. Thompson, D. C. Crampton, F. E. (Eds).
(2008). Why Levy Efforts Pass or Fail Lessons
from Ohio School Superintendents. Retrieved
from http//coe.ksu.edu/ucea/2008/Johnson_U
CEA2008.pdf Zieper, M. (August, 2000). Financial
Management/Tips on Passing a Bond Referendum.
Retrieved from http//americancityandcou
nty.com/mag/government_financial_managementtips_pa
ssing/