Los Angeles Unified School District: Budgeting for Student Achievement

1. Los Angeles Unified School District: Budgeting for Student Achievement The Education Leadership Case Competition Team 3 Matt Lehigh NaveenSeshadri David Phillips Kelly Boucher

2. Today’s Agenda • Communications Strategy (Matt and Naveen) • Engagement Strategy (David) • Implementation Strategy (Kelly)

3. Communications Strategy

4. Communications Strategy Recommendations • Establish BSA initiativeas central office’s communications priority • Craft a message that serves both internal and external stakeholders • Build a virtuous circle of communication to drive BSA demand • Delineate key messengers and their target audiences • Define primary communications channels for message dissemination • Brand the BSA campaign

5. Establish BSA Initiativeas Central Office’s Communications Priority

6. Craft a Message That Serves Both Internal and External Stakeholders Acknowledge Budget Crisis But Frame as an Opportunity for Positive Change • Those Who Walk the Halls Every Day Should Make Decisions About a School’s • Needs • Stark Contrast Against Those Who Have Best Intentions But Are Several Steps • Removed From the School Site Clarify What’s Different This Time Explain Benefits of the BSA Approach

7. Craft a Message That Serves Both Internal and External Stakeholders Acknowledge Budget Crisis But Frame as an Opportunity for Positive Change Clarify What’s Different This Time • Internal and External Stakeholders Cooperating • Solid Data Metrics Now Exist to Measure School Needs • BSA Expertise and Devotion to Its Success Remain Intact Despite Superintendent Transition Explain Benefits of the BSA Approach

8. Craft a Message That Serves Both Internal and External Stakeholders Acknowledge Budget Crisis But Frame as an Opportunity for Positive Change Clarify What’s Different This Time Explain Benefits of the BSA Approach • Transparency Within Financial Allocations • Flexibility to Meet Individual School Needs • Accountability in Decision Making • Equity in Distribution of Financial Resources to Ensure All Students Have a Fair • Chance to Advance Their Education

9. Build a Virtuous Circle of Communication to Drive BSA Demand

10. Delineate Key Messengers and Their Target Audiences Nationally Prominent Personalities Large-scale Community Events & Mass Media High Visibility Leaders Mass Media & Grasstops LAUSD BSA Experts Grasstops Grasstops Peers & Grassroots Grassroots Peers

11. Define Primary Communications Channels for Message Dissemination External Communication Mass Media Internet & Email Community Forums Additional LAUSD Resources • Print • Television • Radio • Popular Education Websites/Blogs • Social Networking Rooted in Facebook and Twitter • BSA Feature on LAUSD.net Homepage • Create BSA-specific E-mail Address • Link to LAUSD.net BSA Feature from Partners’ Sites • Leverage Email Lists of Compact Partners & Chamber Members • Grasstops/Grassroots Surrogates Participating in Community Association Meetings • LAUSD-scheduled Information Sessions Held on School Sites • KLCS-TV • Phone Messages Internal Communication

12. Define Primary Communications Channels for Message Dissemination External Communication Internal Communication Intranet & Email Employee Town Halls Additional LAUSD Resources • BSA-specific Page Highlighting Key Facets of Budget Transformation • Knowledge Management System (Best Practices Library) • Regular Newsletter Feature Updating Progress • BSA-specific E-mail Address to Share Success Stories • First Session with Central Office Team • Series of Forums with School Site Personnel Hosted by District • Visit Individual School Sites During Inservice/Staff Meetings to Continue Messaging • KLCS-TV • Phone Messages

13. Brand the BSA Campaign Websites, Blogs & Social Networking LAUSD.net / LAUSD Intranet TV & Radio PSAs Local Broadcast Networks Your Child. Your Community. Your Decision. Donated Billboard Space Greater LA Roadways Printed Collateral Schools, Healthcare Facilities, Community Centers, Houses of Worship & Markets Infomercial KLCS-TV

14. Brand the BSA Campaign Your Child. Your Community. Your Decision.

15. Engagement Strategy

16. Engagement Strategy Recommendations • Provide avenues for local business leaders to become involved in BSA initiative • Reframe union conversations to focus on shared interests

17. Engage and Empower Two Key Stakeholders

18. Open School Site Councils to “SSC Business Liaisons”

19. Results:Quality Budget Decisions, Community Engagement Multiplier Short-Term Effect: Better Budgeting Decisions Long-Term Effect: Multiplied Community Engagement

20. Re-Frame Union Partnership Around Shared Ownership and Aligned Interests School Interests Union Interests BSA 7 out of 10 teachers feel they have no voice in the debate over education reform – Met Life Survey

21. Implementation Strategy

22. Implementation Strategy Recommendations • Establish BSA Task Force and commence knowledge sharing and expertise development • Create an open-source BSA Resource website • Support BSA initiative through professional development, network building, and incentives for teachers, parents, and students

23. Implementing BSA: Clearing the Path for Key Players Reasons for Resistance among Internal Stakeholders Any Solution must Involve… • Proving and publicizing early wins from peer schools • High-touch training • Project management skills • Ready-made best practices plus rapid networking • Service-oriented “on call” expert team

24. Establish a BSA Task Force to Signify BSA Initiative as District’s Top Priority • The BSA Task Force will comprise officers from essential central offices lead by a volunteer manager from the private sector • The Task Force will develop expertise in process, policy, and design related to BSA • The Task Force will serve as the BSA knowledge hub for LAUSD Job Description

25. Develop Experts in the BSA Task Force Through Communication and Knowledge-Sharing EXPERTISE

26. Utilize BSA Task Force to Disseminate Knowledge to Decision Makers BSA Resource Website PD Day

27. Support BSA Initiative Through Task Force Programming BSA Advisory Teacher Group Collaborative Attendance Initiative

28. Decision Makers Take Knowledge Ownership and Disseminate to Their Networks School Site Council Members School Staff, Parents, Peers, Community Colleagues, Students Colleagues, Superiors

29. Wrap-Up

30. Recommendations Leverage Community Partners for Budget and Time Efficiency

31. Q&A

32. Appendix

33. Volunteer BSA Task Force Manager • Job Description • Convey significance of BSA initiative to key stakeholders • Manage and supervise BSA Task Force staff • Facilitate knowledge ramp-up, capture, and dissemination • Oversee development of BSA Resource website • Develop relationships with key stakeholders and representatives from districts that have transitioned to models similar to BSA • Supervise planning of professional development events • Qualifications/Experience • 3-5 years private sector management experience • Experience in project, account and/or knowledge management • Client-service orientation • Desire to work pro-bono to advance education reform in LA Back

34. The BSA Task Force Will Create and Manage Resource Website • Website will be open to principals, teachers, school site council members, and central office staff • Website will be open-content so that all decision makers can post information • “Best Practices” case studies will be available to guide decision makers • BSA will post guides on budgeting under BSA and effective school and instructional design • Website will feature a discussion board where decision makers can reach out to their peers to elicit ideas Back

35. BSA Professional Development Day Will Train Decision Makers From 100 Schools Bi-Monthly • Schools will be broken into cohorts based on demographic information • This will facilitate the development of school support networks during district-wide BSA transitioning • The principal, one teacher, and a member of the school site council will each attend PD Day • These are key decision-makers that will bring information back to their colleagues, peers, and children • PD Day will feature speakers from districts that have already transitioned to budgeting systems similar to BSA or from LA schools that have already transitionedsuccessfully • Staff from the BSA Task Force will deliver training on the BSA budgeting process and school/instructional design • Training will be broken up for principals, teachers, and school site council members Back

36. Each School Will be Encouraged to Form a BSA Advisory Group of Teachers • BSA Advisory Group will meet once a month to discuss issues related to BSA and to develop recommendations for the School Site Council • One teacher will serve as Lead Advisor • This teacher will also sit on the School Site Council • This position will be a means for principals to recognize a dedicated, enthusiastic teacher Back

37. Each School Will be Encouraged to Develop a Collaborative Attendance Initiative With a Local Business • Collaborative Attendance Initiative will involve the PTA, a local business partner, and a school community • The PTA, along with the business partner and school administration, will set bi-annual attendance targets • When the school reaches its attendance target, the local business partner will provide families with a reward, such as a coupon or gift certificate • Parents will support each other in this initiative by forming a Parent Buddy System for parents of students identified by administration as chronically absent • Parent Buddies will share strategies for getting children to school and will offer support to parents struggling with their children’s attendance • This initiative gives parents power by reinforcing that high attendance will give a school better resources Back