Whether it is requests for bricks and mortar or more operating money, each election type and context is unique with no guarantee that a set of campaign strategies_successful in one district_will not fail in another community. If successful campaigns were not such a delicate balance of science and art, the key to success would have long since been discovered, resulting in significantly more school districts winning at the ballot box. As members of the baby-boom generation collectively watch their last child receive a diploma from our nation's public schools, passing school finance elections is going to be even more difficult, promising tougher battles with the electorate and tighter margins between success and failure. School Finance Elections represents a marriage of research and successful practice, presenting a comprehensive planning model for school leaders preparing for and conducting school finance elections. Information presented emphasizes systems and strategies rather than specific campaign tactics. Avoiding a myopic focus on tactics allows school leaders to elevate their thinking to a more comprehensive and long-range vision of election planning. Each of the chapters elaborates on one of the ten elements in the authors' comprehensive planning model. Use of this model has reaped success in all types of school districts from New Jersey to California, and the authors aim to bring readers success at the ballot box as well. This second edition builds on the first with expanded sections about the attitudes of voters whose children have grown and graduated, research into the nature of organized opposition, and new material highlighting the Internet in campaigns. The authors provide school leaders with important resources to guide their planning and execution of school finance referenda.

In three chapters, this manual describes how a school board campaign should operate and presents an action plan for board candidates and their supporters. Chapter 1 discusses the candidate's role and duties. It covers the school board itself, qualifications for candidates, precampaign preparation, time required for a campaign, selection of a campaign manager, candidate preparation (including interviews, background reading, written and oral presentations, briefings, and community outreach), and campaigning itself, involving public appearances, door-to-door activities, press relations, name recognition, and meetings with the campaign manager, workers, and committee chairpersons. Chapter 1 also sketches the campaign wrap-up and outlines a week-by-week campaign timetable. Chapter 2 tells how to build a campaign organization, defines the manager's role, and delineates weekly timetables and functions for 13 committees and their chairpersons and members. The committees involve the areas of aides, absentee ballots, briefings, clerical work, finance, letters to editors and friends, mailings and literature drops, neighborhood gatherings, publicity, research, telephoning, and walkathons. Chapter 3 offers sample campaign literature for most areas, including letters, platform, brochures, and press releases. Two appendices list all state school board associations and suggest further reading. An index is attached. (RW)

Whether it is requests for bricks and mortar or more operating money, each election type and context is unique with no guarantee that a set of campaign strategies successful in one district will not fail in another community. If successful campaigns were not such a delicate balance of science and art, the key to success would have long since been discovered, resulting in significantly more school districts winning at the ballot box. As members of the baby-boom generation collectively watch their last child receive a diploma from our nation's public schools, passing school tax elections is going to be even more difficult, promising tougher battles with the electorate and tighter margins between success and failure. School Tax Elections represents a marriage of research and successful practice, presenting a comprehensive planning model for school leaders preparing for and conducting school tax elections. Information presented emphasizes systems and strategies rather than specific campaign tactics, allowing school leaders to elevate their thinking to a more comprehensive and long-range vision of election planning. The authors provide school leaders with important resources to guide their planning and execution of school tax elections.

Everything you need to know about Vote by Mail! Successful campaign manager and three-term mayor of Ashland, Oregon, Catherine Shaw presents the must-have handbook for navigating local campaigns. This clear and concise handbook gives political novices and veterans alike a detailed, soup-to-nuts plan for organizing, funding, publicizing, and winning local political campaigns. Finding the right message and targeting the right voters are clearly explained through specific examples, anecdotes, and illustrations. Shaw also provides in-depth information on assembling campaign teams and volunteers, canvassing, how to conduct a precinct analysis, and how to campaign on a shoestring budget. The Campaign Manager is an encouraging, lucid presentation of how to win elections at the local level.The sixth edition has been fully revised to include new and expanded coverage of contemporary campaign management-from digital ads and new social media tools to data-driven voter targeting tactics and vote by mail strategies.