How Private Schools Can Manage Bad Press: Strategies for Crisis Communication

Opinion

Private school vouchers are available in one form or another in thirteen states and the District of Columbia. That being so, I wondered whether schools which accept vouchers are subject to state regulations over and above what they normally would be subject to. The National Conference of State Legislatures has a useful State-by-State Comparison of School Voucher Laws which allows you and me to compare the various programs.

Background

Currently thirteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws which provide scholarships for students meeting specific conditions so they can attend private school. These scholarships are generally referred to as vouchers. Do these private school voucher programs give parents' the choices they desire? Do private schools' give up their most cherished feature, namely, their independence? How are these programs working? What results are they achieving?

John Stoessel and others make the case for vouchers.

Most voucher programs have good intentions. They seek to give parents options in a specific set of circumstances. Sometimes the state voucher law is written to give vouchers to students with a learning disability. Other laws are written with low-income families in mind. Interestingly enough there seem to very few conditions which the private schools accepting vouchers have to meet. If the school merely accepts students without being concerned as to the source of their funding, the school apparently does not have to sacrifice any

Joann McPike, the founder of THINK Global School, graciously answered some questions that I posed about the school. ~ Rob Kennedy

RK: Explain why you took the reins rather than finding some institution that you could guide and shape according to your ideals and goals.

JM: My husband and I love to travel. We have always taken our son Alexander with us whenever we went anywhere. We took his schoolwork with us. It was Alexander's never-ending questions and comments that started showing us the benefits of traveling and opening the minds of youngsters.

We started looking at boarding schools all over the world for when he had to go to high school, and although there are some fantastic schools out there, we couldn't find one that would provide the different points of view that we felt were necessary to have a truly open mind.

As to why I didn't find an institution that we could guide and shape... I assume you mean an existing school? I guess I thought it would be more challenging to try to convince a school board to do something so out of the ordinary than to start a school from scratch. Most people feel safe in the status quo, but there are a few risk-takers who want to shake things up a little. I guess I am one of those who want to shake things up a little... as are the courageous parents who took a leap of faith and sent

Have you ever thought about starting your own private school? There are a couple of reasons why you might be pondering a large scale project such as starting a private school. Perhaps you are discouraged by the lack of education options in your area and want to do something about it. Maybe you have a vision and philosophy of education which is ahead of the curve. Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori are examples of educators who established entire movements based on their teachings and philosophies. Or perhaps no school in your area is doing what you know and feel strongly is necessary and beneficial for young people. Many determined people have established private schools because they want to be able to include religious instruction in their curricula. These are just a few of the reasons why private schools get their start.

Separation of Church and State

Historically this has been one of the major reasons why private schools were established. Public schools legally cannot teach faith-based religion. So if you are a devout follower of your religion, you will probably want your children to have a thorough grounding in their faith. That's why 22,731 private schools are affiliated with a religion according to the data available from the Private School Universe Survey of the National Center for Educational Statistics. To put that number of schools in context the PSS shows that there were 33,366 private schools in the United States. Based on those statistics religious private

A decade ago, you spent a fortune on a gorgeous catalog and a couple of recruiting trips. Then you waited. You would be in good shape if you had gotten your catalogs into the right hands and had a good turnout for your recruiting trips. The applications came in hopefully in a three-to-one ratio. All was well.

That approach doesn't work very well today. Your demographics have changed. More and more of your target parents are Generation Y. They get their information from social media.

The diversity goals your school has require different approaches, too. You need to extend the reach of your advertising campaigns by using social media, which is easily shared. Your market has become more segmented and much more competitive. As the economic outlook makes the future look more and more uncertain, parents are examining the educational foundations that their children will need to be successful in their adult lives.

The uncertain economy, which has dogged us since the 2008 recession, causes financial concerns for both you and your school and your current and prospective families.

That's where social media comes in. Done well, social media will improve your admissions yield. Done consistently, social media can cement value in place in the minds of your target audience.

But remember: social media is still marketing. It requires planning and execution of that marketing plan to work. It cannot be a hit-or-miss approach. Neither can you leave