PDK International | Phi Delta Kappan: Manafo V87 N9 May 2006

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Enhancing the Value of Public Education: Lessons from the Private Sector

Public schools are suffering from both an image problem and a decline in funding. Mr. Manafo believes that they should take a page from the private schools' book and consider some proven techniques for image enhancement and institutional advancement.

By Michael J. Manafo

MUCH OF my career in education has been spent working on behalf of independent schools and nonprofit organizations both in the U.S. and abroad. I have planned, developed, and administered a number of these schools and organizations. Over the years I have raised funds, designed buildings, recruited students and teachers, written curriculum, organized alumni, written promotional materials, established tuition levels, created scholarships, written policy, developed boarding programs, designed student uniforms, and completed dozens of other tasks. I believe that my work in the world of tuition-driven institutions has given me some insights into the care and feeding of successful schools. I further believe that many of the things I have learned from the highly competitive world of private schools can be applied to the world of publicly supported education, and I would like to share some of these insights with Kappan readers.

First, let me create the context for this discussion. Over the years, I have discovered one recurring theme among those who work in the development or administration of private schools -- how their schools might gain the comparative advantage over the competition. When the competition is defined as other private schools, the strategies devised in pursuit of comparative advantage often lead to an escalating game of one-upsmanship. At Ivy Collegiate Academy in Taiwan, we scoured the promotional materials of the American School of Taichung, calculating how we could top them with a slicker recruitment brochure or how an exotic AP course in environmental science would outclass that school's AP biology course. The anticipated rewards in this competition between private schools are, of course, more students and more tuition dollars.

On the other hand, when private schools consider the public schools as competition, the discussion often turns to "distancing." In other words, how much distance can we put between our independent school and their public school, considering such items as curriculum, academic excellence, athletics, college placement, faculty, prestige, and the like? It is common practice for private schools to extol their virtues using the public schools as the lowest common denominator. I recall a brainstorming session several years ago in Munich at which those of us building Schloss Wedendorf discussed our many conceptions (and misconceptions) about German public education -- poor teaching, deteriorating facilities, irrelevant curriculum, violence in the halls, breeding grounds for ultra-nationalists, and so on. For every negative view of the German public schools aired, we planned ways for Schloss Wedendorf to exemplify the opposite.

This distancing strategy employed by the private schools is just one reason why public education is often identified with many of society's ills. Whether or not a public school is providing a superior education to its students, it is still vulnerable to slings and arrows launched by almost anyone with a bone to pick about almost anything. The idea of scapegoating public education is not new, but it does demand that savvy public school officials respond and educate the general public about the strengths and virtues of their institutions.

For issues of public image and also for purely economic reasons -- a more market-driven economy, a decline in state and federal funding for public education, a push toward privatization, the charter school movement -- I believe it is time for public school officials to begin studying the private schools in order to learn some proven strategies for image enhancement and institutional advancement. And to assist in this effort, I would now like to share my insights with Kappan readers about what many independent schools are doing right and what public schools can learn from them.

1. Move beyond event fund-raising into institutional advancement. Public school officials can learn much about development and institutional advancement from their private school counterparts. Fund-raising events put on by parent/teacher organizations and sales of chocolate bars are perfectly fine activities and certainly benefit students in the short term. However, ice cream socials and door-to-door sales lack the capacity to develop or advance an institution over the long term.

Contemporary practice in the independent sector is moving toward a highly integrated approach to school advancement. This change has come about in response to the traditionally balkanized approach that categorizes development efforts under such rubrics as alumni, admissions, marketing, fund raising, public relations, or publications. A number of progressive private schools have developed marketing and public relations teams made up of administrators, teachers, parents, trustees, and students. These teams function less in the creation of policy and more in the cross-fertilization of ideas. In addition to tapping into new and diverse thinking, the team approach to institutional advancement produces ownership among a range of constituent groups for the direction the school is headed. If local or state law prohibits a public school district from raising funds or receiving donations, school officials might consider setting up a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation to handle development and advancement affairs.

2. Create a dynamic school website. There are a dozen good reasons why an outstanding presence on the Web is vital to any school. Even the most basic school sites get dozens or hundreds of hits each day. And what are these Internet seekers finding? Is your site an accurate reflection of the value you provide to the community and the pride you feel in your school? If not, your website is doing you and your school a disservice. The fortunes of independent schools are often pegged to the value and appeal of their websites. Public schools should recognize the importance of a strong Web presence and hop on this bandwagon immediately. At Lee Academy in Maine, our institutional advancement team created a top-notch development website and launched it when the first donor appeals for the annual fund drive went into the mail. This new site worked hand-in-hand with our conventional solicitation mailings and boosted our receipts considerably.

3. Carefully consider, define, and refine your brand. When I worked for Euro-Internatsberatung, traveling throughout the United States to create partnerships for the placement of German students in American boarding schools, I found that nearly every school I visited was working at branding its product. Branding is a marketing concept that has made its way into the lexicon of private education. Branding is what makes one school different from another. Exeter hooks clients with its tradition. Northfield-Mt. Hermon does the same with its diversity. St. Paul's employs academic excellence (as do many other schools, but none quite so well as St. Paul's). At Lee Academy, we hooked students and their parents with location -- a stunningly beautiful four-season setting, looking out over the Mt. Jefferson ski area. One public school district in Pennsylvania promotes itself as a "small district with big pride." My question in this case is, Does this particular brand work on behalf of the school? In addition, does this "small district with big pride" image resonate with local constituencies? How well does this brand play against the competition? Finally, is it possible to build upon this concept? These are the kinds of questions that you should ask when you are developing your school's brand in order to set it apart from its competitors.

4. Publish a multipurpose viewbook. A "viewbook" is that slick school publication you can find available in the admissions and advancement offices of private schools. Independent school viewbooks are intended to paint an idyllic picture of the school in order to entice prospective students to attend. Many private schools invest substantial sums in their viewbooks and other promotional materials. One-upsmanship comes to the fore when private schools compete against one another for the most sophisticated and breathtaking brochures.

Without going off the deep end, public schools can benefit in many ways by investing in attractive and informative promotional materials as well. Viewbooks can be sent out with an annual fund solicitation. They can be distributed to local businesses or the local Chamber of Commerce. They can be attached as appendices to grant applications. They also make a fine introduction to the school for parents who have just moved into the district. Viewbooks can get the word out about your programs, your location, the virtues of your school, your star faculty members, or your stellar athletic teams. Viewbooks and school websites can serve as your silent weapons -- as long as they are of professional quality, honest, and informative.

5. Work to integrate the school and community. I have a colleague, Walther Hetzer, who is building a new international boarding school outside of Vienna, Austria. Walther and I often share ideas on developing new schools. In some recent correspondence, I complimented him on the high degree of integration he was planning between the school and the people of St. Gilgen, where the school is located. Walther responded that "real integration with a village does not happen by itself, takes time and effort, and is especially strong when social and service elements combine."

Public schools are traditionally pretty good at developing school/community integration. But how often does a public school evaluate its relationship with its local community? Does the public school offer community members services beyond child-centered activities? Do public schools consider adult education, continuing education, or adult literacy programs to be part of their responsibility to the community? Today's independent school administrators understand that town/gown relations are greatly enhanced when the local residents have access (within reason) to school facilities and services. Successful outreach programs can do wonders for the image of a school, as well as for the quality of life in the community.

6. Cultivate local linkages and partnerships. Back when I did my superintendent internship in 1991, my final project was an investigation of linkages between area businesses and the public schools of North Andover, Massachusetts. At that time, school/business partnerships were a relatively new concept, and I discovered virtually no collaboration or cooperation between the local schools and the local businesses. However, interest was high on both sides, and what remained to be done was to get the two sides talking to each other. Once that finally happened, the possibilities for collaborative projects began to unfold.

At Escuela Las Morochas, a private American school in Ciudad Ojeda, Venezuela, we initially had problems with street toughs from the impoverished barrio across from the school. Then we donated three truckloads of our surplus American-made school desks and blackboards to the local public school in Barrio Constitución. From that point on, the residents of the local community became our friends and partners. The value of positive school/community connections and partnerships cannot be overstated. More often than not, partnerships can be a win-win situation for all parties involved.

7. Create a strong alumni base. There are a dozen good reasons for a school -- any school -- to track its alumni and to stay in regular contact with them. Colleges and universities, both public and private, have been tracking alumni for many years. Private schools do so as well. Many public schools are rather lax about following their graduates. Some public schools track graduates merely for the sake of organizing traditional five-year class reunions. However, too many public schools abdicate all alumni functions. They simply pass them on to former class leaders and then wash their hands of alumni affairs. To me, this is a golden opportunity wasted. When one considers the successful careers of many public school graduates, it is surprising that public schools generally have little interest in cultivating those who have passed through their portals. Is it any wonder that classmates.com is the strongest public school alumni organization in the world? Leave it to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Internet to fill in for this shortcoming of public education.

8. Define what you are raising money for. Although annual giving and major gift funds often go directly into the general funds or endowments of private schools, I favor earmarking funds for specific programs or projects. I am not a fan of raising funds simply to subsidize the day-to-day operation of any school, public or private. Earmarked projects, endowed chairs, and bricks-and-mortar campaigns are much easier to pitch to prospective donors. It is much more difficult to ask an alumnus or a local business for a donation for daily operations. My guess is that public school alumni would be much more inclined to give to their alma mater if they knew exactly how their donation would be spent. Remember the little guy who knocked at your door last week and sold you those chocolate bars? He was raising money to buy new band uniforms, not to supplement the general fund. At Lee Academy, for all we did right in our first-ever annual fund campaign, we did this wrong. We should have earmarked pet projects and solicited for gifts-in-kind in addition to collecting money for the general fund. Why not let your donors choose how their money will be spent?

9. Solicit major gifts and endowments. Major gifts and endowment donations are not the exclusive domain of schools in the private sector. Public universities target major donors. Why shouldn't public schools do so as well? I've always found that, if you ask the right person and present a compelling case, those with resources will generally be pleased to assist.

I often tell the story of when I was handling the development campaign for the Harvard Wireless Club in 1989. The telephone rang one day at the office, and one of our alums asked if I wouldn't mind paying him a visit at his home. He had received our solicitation and wanted to discuss his gift in person. Why not? I made an appointment to visit this gentleman, we had a lovely chat, and I returned to the office with his personal check for $50,000, made out to the Harvard Wireless Club. A donation such as this may be the exception rather than the rule for public schools, but it is not an isolated incident in the private sector. Several years ago, the development officer at Solebury, a private secondary school in southeastern Pennsylvania, had a similar experience with an alumnus. After some discussion, this fellow's gift to the school turned out to be nine million dollars. Remember, if you don't ask, you'll never get an answer.

10. Invest in technology. Several years ago, private schools with sufficient resources were sinking their money into new centers for the visual and performing arts. Today, there appears to be movement toward building sophisticated technology centers. Private schools are beginning to recognize that their most significant competition may not be from other independent schools or from the public schools. Instead, their real competition may be from the wide variety of alternative educational experiences available via technology and the Internet. A recent article in Independent School magazine warns that private schools may face declining enrollments by 2007 because of shifting demographics and because of the proliferation and popularity of online schooling. Parents who at one time might have toughed it out in order to come up with private school tuition can now consider online diploma programs as viable -- and much less costly -- alternatives. Consequently, many independent schools have jumped aboard the technology train and now offer any number of AP and college-level courses in addition to (or sometimes in place of) their conventional course offerings. WiFi and broadband technologies are currently the minimum standards on independent school campuses. If the Maine public schools can distribute laptops to all secondary students, perhaps public schools in other states should be embracing technology as well.

11. Learn from your competition. There is much that public schools can learn by paying attention to what private schools in their vicinity are up to. If private schools study public schools in order to distance their operations from them, then it would make sense for public schools to be equally well informed about their private school neighbors. How do the local private schools run their operations? What can the public schools learn from their various programs and practices? Where do their students come from? How do these schools manage to recruit students away from public school districts? Do students migrate to the Catholic high schools primarily for religious studies, or are there other incentives involved? Is it possible for traditional public schools to offer programs and incentives that match those of the local private schools?

Public school officials need to do their homework with regard to the competition. If one's product is perceived to be lacking value, it won't be long until the customer base goes elsewhere. The day I see a local public school distancing itself from the local private school competition is the day when I will know that someone in that central office truly "gets it."

12. Start at the beginning and develop a realistic action plan. I've been around independent and international schools long enough to have seen my fair share of false starts and misguided projects. Contrary to the positive examples I have presented here, not everything that happens in the private schools is productive or worthwhile. And that's true of schooling in general. Innovation and new projects are inherently difficult to make stick in schools, regardless of whether they're public or private. As simple and straightforward as it may appear on paper, any noble idea may take on a life of its own in practice.

At Escuela Campo Alegre, a private American school in Caracas, Venezuela, I studied the impact of innovative educational programs on the school community. In fact, this topic became the subject of my doctoral research. In the course of that research, I discovered several important things about the process of innovation and change in schools that may have application for any school official or group that is intent on enhancing the value of a school's educational offerings. Here are my findings:

• Hit the ground learning, not running. Information from all constituencies is crucial to placing important issues in their proper context.

• Develop a realistic action plan based on input from your constituencies: weigh your priorities, go back to your constituencies for feedback, and seek consensus on where to actually begin the change process.

• Implement with care and be prepared to be flexible, to compromise, and to refine your proposals.

• Evaluate your outcomes, and make the results public.

• Finally, celebrate success, recognize good work, and learn from your mistakes.

I would like to say that a good idea is a good idea, no matter what its source. Private schools do not have a monopoly on successful image building or on institutional advancement. Yet I have experienced and observed any number of exemplary practices at a variety of private schools, both in the U.S. and abroad, and I believe that many of the successful practices from the highly competitive world of private schooling can be applied to the world of publicly supported education. If our public schools are learning institutions, then those who manage them should be active learners as well. And what better model to consider for advancing public schools than the one offered by successful private schools?

MICHAEL J. MANAFO began his career in education as a history teacher at a private girls' school in Pennsylvania. Since 1991, he has been involved in the development and administration of new international schools and has completed school projects in Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Thailand, and Taiwan. He may be reached at manafo@post.harvard.edu.