By Michael P. Meotti
05/04/04 -- During my 15 years as a school board member, town councilman, and state senator, I've talked with many people about government budgets. Many of those people associate themselves with the "business community," whether they own a small business, hold a management position in a larger company, or work for a large corporation.
Let me share some thoughts on how to effectively engage the business community in budget conversations, but keep in mind that we all bring a variety of "roles" to these issues.
That businessperson may also be a parent, grandparent, former student, or school volunteer, and will bring as much, if not more, of all these perspectives to the conversation.
While I have tried to focus on a business perspective, I think the following tips would work with almost any interested citizen.
• Engage in conversation; don't lecture. Increase understanding; don't score points. It is very tempting to give in to the feeling that all the time and effort we put into public service makes us an expert.
The people we're talking to haven't spent years dealing with the school system, poring through the budget details at meetings and workshops, and constantly learning more to better carry out our responsibilities.
It should come as no surprise that probably every one of us has walked away from a conversation with the uneasy feeling that we lectured that person and turned them off in the process.
Given the widespread cynicism about government in general -- and government spending in particular -- acting like the expert is a very counterproductive approach. Trying to win an argument puts the other person on the defensive and drives them to find fault with what you have said.
Do this to someone in the business community and they will quickly fall back on the storehouse of anecdotes about how poorly schools (and other government agencies) are managed and how much better it would be if they were run like a business.
Mentioning Enron doesn't quickly turn your listener into a supporter of the school budget -- or do anything to increase their understanding of how well your school system is managed.
• Seek an ongoing conversation with the formal "business community" in your town or city.
Just the other day an expert on service learning programs in high schools told me that it is widely accepted that students don't get much out of a "one shot" experience.
Learning and gaining understanding is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. This simple truth should be the foundation of any effort to engage the community in support of your local schools.
Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take to reach out to the business community. Don't confuse the business community with the Fortune 500 corporate world. In most school districts, local businesses constitute a varied mix of locally owned retail stores, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, real estate agents, builders, small manufacturers, doctors, dentists, bank branches, and so on.
Not only might you reach these business people through a local chamber of commerce, but you will also find that they usually make up a large portion of the membership of other civic groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, and other clubs.
Remember that an occasional talk at a meeting, or an invitation to a budget workshop, does not constitute an ongoing conversation. Be creative in how you reach out to these organizations and seek regular contact outside of the budget season.
Try to build relationships around social or cultural events at school buildings. If you only come to them when you need support for the budget, they will come to doubt the sincerity of your interest in what they have to say.
• Prove the board means business about efficiency and effectiveness. I have a bit of bad news for you: Even many of your most ardent school advocates probably think that school administration is too concerned about its own turf, not very service-oriented, and in need of an efficiency overhaul.
My guess is that this sentiment is particularly widespread among people who think of themselves as part of the business community. My second guess (and a somewhat educated one) is that there is a lot of truth to this sentiment in most school districts.
You cannot dismiss these concerns with truisms such as "schools are very labor intensive so you can't apply management reforms from the private sector" or "schools just aren't businesses and students aren't widgets, so you can't run a school system like a business."
Your audience will stop listening to you at this point. They know very well that the classroom is a different place from the shop floor. But they also know that school districts manage human resources, contract for fringe benefits, purchase services and goods, maintain buildings and grounds, and manage a host of other responsibilities that are not all that different from the business world.
Pay attention to these administrative efficiency issues every year. Can you share services with your town government? Are there opportunities to collaborate with other school districts in purchasing or other activities where you might find economies of scale?
If your school system can demonstrate that it is committed to a high level of efficiency and quality in administrative functions, you will win the respect of your local business community.
Once you gain that respect, they are more likely to have confidence in your leadership over the multitude of educational issues in which they don't feel they have much expertise.
The fundamentals of communicating with the business community aren't very different from working with any segment of your community.
Relationships built over the years beat public relations campaigns that last for weeks. Open and honest conversation builds trust. And as my teachers always told me, effort pays off in the long run.
Smart business people recognize the economic and social value that a high-quality school system builds for a community. Your challenge is to show them the connection between your decisions and quality.
Michael P. Meotti is president of the Connecticut Policy and Economic Council.