PSLA Leadership retreat slides

1. Coalition Advocacy Training
PSLA Leadership 9 July 2019
John Chrastka, EveryLibrary
Building voter support for libraries

2. EveryLibrary ESSA Policy Support
• State School Library Association Partners
• “Policy Points” and Strategy instead of
Talking Points or Elevator Speeches
• Policy Memos and Implementation
Recommendations for ESSA
• SaveSchoolLibrarians.org

3. SaveSchoolLibrarians.org Mission
“Our concern is on the basics: fix the disconnect in
districts who say they want successful schools and fully
prepared students but don’t fund their libraries or employ
enough qualified librarians.”

4. EveryLibrary
• Negotiation and Lobbying Support for
Funding
• Training and coaching libraries, state
associations and agencies
• School Library-Focused
• Pro Bono for Libraries; Donor
Supported

5. EveryLibrary
● First Nationwide Super
PAC for Libraries
● Set up as a c4 rather than a c3
● 102 campaigns to date
86 wins
● $328 million in stable tax funding

6. EveryLibrary
Projects
● action.everylibrary.org
● SaveSchoolLibrarians.org
● SaveIMLS.org
● FundLibraries.org
● The Political Librarian and Books

7. Political Landscape for
Education in 2019

8. School Library Funding Landscape
• Per student expenditures on materials is
uneven
• Certified/licensed school librarians
continue to be cut
• States aid to schools is a uneven
• ESSA implementation shift and US DOE
approach to rules and federal funding

9. Four Challenges for the School
Library Advocacy Ecosystem
• Low level of support for funding among
administrators
• Low level of understanding among stakeholders
about your role in student outcomes
• Few current allies among other educators
• Low level of political literacy inside profession

10. Public
Perceptions of
Schools and
Education
Critical Issues in Public Education:
The 2016 & 2018 Phi Delta Kappa Survey

11. Purpose of
Education...
Fewer than half of Americans (45%)
view the main goal of public education
as preparing students academically;
the rest split between a focus on
preparing students for work (25%) or
preparing them to be good citizens
(26%).

13. Fixing Failure
Q. Thinking about all public schools in general, what do you think is the
best approach for dealing with a public school that has been failing for a
number of years…?
If a failing public school is kept open, which of these do you think is
the best approach…?
(2016 data on next slide)

14. Fixing
Failure

16. How to Improve Learning (2016)
Q30. If you had to choose, do you think it’s better for the public schools in
your community to have:
larger/smaller classes
honors and advanced / career and technical
traditional teaching / teach with technology
raise salaries / hire more teachers
Do you feel that way strongly, or somewhat?

17. How to
improve
learning….

18. Where does your
school library
program focus the
most time?
Does school
librarianship in PA
map to either of
these populations
more?

19. Support for new school taxes…
Q. Would you support or oppose raising local property taxes to
try to improve the public schools in your community? Do you
feel that way strongly or somewhat?
-------- Support -------- -------- Oppose ---------
NET | Strongly | Somewhat NET | Somewhat | Strongly | No opinion
53 27 26 45 14 31 2
PDK 2016

20. Q. If taxes are raised
to try to improve
your local public
schools, what’s the
number one thing
the money should be
spent on?

22. If taxes were raised…?
Q. If taxes were raised, how confident are you that the increased
funding would improve the public schools in your community –
very confident, somewhat confident, not so confident or not
confident at all?
--- More confident -------- Less confident ----
NET | Very | Somewhat -- NET | Not so |Not at all | No opinion
52 11 41 47 24 23 1
PDK 2016

23. From the
Political
Sciences
Political Literacy 201

24. What Activates Advocates
for a Cause?
1. A Reason to Vote
2. Mobilized
3. Personal Contact with
Candidate or Issue*
4. Culture/Tradition/Habit
of Voting*
5. Trust in Government
6. Decided to Vote
7. Weather/Access to
Polls

25. What Activates
Advocates for a Cause?
1. An Identified Need
2. Personal Motivation
3. Experience of the Cause*
4. Prior Success as an Advocate*
5. Institutional Reputation
6. Made a Pledge
7. Ease of Access to Advocacy
Tools

26. Activate in Either Context
• ADVOCATES:
• An Identified Need
• Personal Motivation
• Experience of the Cause*
• Prior Success as Advocate*
• Institutional Reputation
• Made a Pledge
• Ease of Access to Tools
• VOTERS:
• A Reason to Vote
• Mobilization
• Personal Contact with Candidate*
• Culture/Tradition/Habit of Voting*
• Trust in Government (pro or con)
• Decided to Vote
• Weather/Access to Polls

27. EveryLibrary’s Funding Thesis:
THE LIBRARIAN IS
THE CANDIDATE
THE LIBRARY IS THE
INCUMBENT

28. The Librarian
as Candidate
Applied Political Theory
Building voter support for libraries

29. What do Good Candidates Know?
• Your vision for the community is the only story to tell
• Every campaign is a cause
• You will either have more money than people, or
more people than money
• Issues are advanced and elections are won through
coalitions
• Endorsements create legitimacy
• Proxies who to speak for the candidate are
necessary

30. How Voters Relate to Candidates
• Do they share the values that matter most to me (voter), and
do they care about people like me? (Shared Values)
• Can I trust them (candidate) to represent me faithfully?
(Shared Identity)
• Do they have the personal qualities that lead me to believe
that they will do right by my values and interests? (Personal
Characteristics)
• If there is an issue I care about, what is their stand on it and
can I trust them to think about it and make a decision which I
would probably make if I had all the information they’ll have?
(Predictability)
-The Political Brain, p. 140

31. How
Voters
Relate to
Candidates
Shared Values - Do they care about people like
me?
Shared Identity - Trust that the candidate is
representing my concerns.
Personal Characteristics - Qualities?
Predictability - Policy and praxis?

32. Your Personal
“Why”
• Your values about education
and librarianship...
• Your vision for the district /
school...
• Why you do this work?
• What happens if you don’t?

33. What do
you Know
and
Believe?
Why are you a
librarian and an
educator?
What are your
personal values
about education?
What are your
personal values
about librarianship?
How is your work
an expression of
those values?
What problems do
you enjoy trying to
solve for the
school/district?
What problems do
you enjoy trying to
solve for families
and kids?

34. What is Your
Workplace
Agenda?
Starting with You, Personally….
Building voter support for libraries

35. 1. Staff for the District / Schools?
2. Budget for programs, collections, materials,
services?
3. More authority to act or more latitude to work
around the district / school?
4. _______
What is Your Workplace Agenda?

36. 1. What is our argument for adding a certified librarian instead of a
reading specialist or a bilingual teacher or any other position?
2. What is our argument for putting an effective school library’s
budgetary needs in front of other district or school priorities?
3. What does a ‘standards based’ budget that creates or sustains an
effective school library program look like?
4. _______________
What is Your Workplace Agenda?

37. What is
PSLA’s
Agenda?
As the legitimate local stakeholders for
school librarians in Pennsylvania….

38. PSLA Agenda
• Mandate Bill
HB 1355 and SB 752, requiring every
public school to have a certified
librarian, were introduced in May and
June.
• Workforce Study
The last study was done in 2011 and a
current study will be helpful in
advocating on behalf of our legislation
because it will likely demonstrate
(again) that having a certified librarian
improves student performance.

39. What is the
Pennsylvania
Education
Agenda?
“Statewide Workforce, Education, and
Accountability Program”

40. Statewide
Workforce,
Education,
and
Accountability
Program
Continuing Investments in
Education and Career Training
Early Childhood Development and
Parent Support
Keystone Economic Development
and Workforce Command Center

41. Purpose and
Focus of ESSA
in PA
Equity: ESSA is a civil rights law to support students most in
need.
Transparency: ESSA continues the emphasis on data
transparency as reported in Pennsylvania through the
Future Ready PA Index.
Stakeholder engagement: ESSA promotes the importance
of stakeholder engagement through the school
improvement process.
Multiple measures of accountability: ESSA uses multiple
measures rather than merely state standardized test
scores.
Accountability for schools: ESSA changes the point of
accountability from districts to schools.
State control: ESSA moves control back to the states and
away from the federal government.

42. ESSA
Requirements
for PA
Have college and career ready
standards.
Assess students in math, language arts,
and science.
Disaggregate student data by
subgroup.
Report data with transparency.
Identify lower-performing schools in
need of support and improvement

43. PA ESSA
Indicators
• Academic: Growth; Proficiency;
Graduation rates; English Language
Proficiency
• School Quality: Chronic Absenteeism
and Career Readiness
See also: FutureReadyPA.org for
comparables by School and District
https://www.psea.org/globalassets/issu
es--action/key-issues/essa-talking-
points-csi-and-a-tsi.pdf

44. Next Steps in the ESSA Plan
2019 – 2022
• Improvement Cycle / Demonstrate
Progress
Late Fall 2021
• New Comprehensive Support and
Improvement (CSI) Plan
• Additional Targeted Support and
Improvement (ATSI) Plan
• Four year improvement cycle begins

45. Questions for
PSLA
Is there enough evidence to
demonstrate that the presence or
absence of a certified school librarian
in an effective school library program is
an indicator of success or failure?
Is it therefore possible for PSLA to
propose that school library programs
and school librarians are a solution for
failing schools?

46. Lunch

47. Coalitions for
School
Librarians
PSLA Across the Commonwealth

48. Coalition 101
• Common Cause?
• Common Concern?
• Shared Values Framework
• Never 100% overlap or you
should just merge

49. Coalition 101
• Confusing ‘project partners’ with
coalition partners
• Confusing ‘sponsors’ with ‘coalition
partners’
• Confusing ‘should be partners’ with
‘actually are partners’

50. Coalition
101
Projects get done through committees
Policy and budgets get changed through
coalitions
The differential between project collaborators
and coalition partners is that the goals / focus
of a coalition is either about budgets (money)
or policy (authority in the law or rules).

51. Coalition
101
Three key questions for the school
library coalition:
Q. Who are you closest to?
Q. Who do you need to work through to
get something done, or to make an ask?
Q. Who can be your proxy?

52. Who Else Cares – And Why?
Articulate why you think / believe /
hope that these coalition (potential)
partners will care about your big issue
or goal...

53. ID an
Existing
Coalition
Advancing your agenda by finding
folks with the same agenda

54. Extending
Your
Influence
What systems exist in your
community that align with
libraries? Where are your natural
partnerships? Who are you
regularly frustrated with?
• Boards and Commissions
• Coalitions of Common Cause
• Coalitions of Common Concern

55. School Library Ecosystem
Who else is concerned
with the whole life of
the child?
Who cares about
career readiness?
Who cares about
college readiness?
Who cares about
citizenship and
community life?
Who cares about
small populations of
students?
Who cares about
before and after
school?
Who cares about
school readiness?
Who else does a
similar job?

56. Definition of “Effective” Programs
As a fundamental component of college, career, and community readiness, the
effective school library program:
1. is adequately staffed, including a state-certified school librarian who a. is an
instructional leader and teacher, b. supports the development of digital
learning, participatory learning, inquiry learning, technology literacies, and
information literacy, and c. supports, supplements, and elevates the literacy
experience through guidance and motivational reading initiatives;
2. has up-to-date digital and print materials and technology, including curation
of openly licensed educational resources; and,
3. provides regular professional development and collaboration between
classroom teachers and school librarians.
http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/positionstatements/AASL_Position
%20Statement_Effective%20SLP_2016-06-25.pdf

57. Definition of “Specialized Instructional Support Personnel”
`(47) Specialized instructional support personnel; specialized
instructional support services.--
``(A) Specialized instructional support personnel.--The term `specialized
instructional support personnel' means--
``(i) school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists; and
``(ii) other qualified professional personnel, such as school nurses,
speech language pathologists, and school librarians, involved in providing
assessment, diagnosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and other
necessary services (including related services as that term is defined in section
602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401)) as part
of a comprehensive program to meet student needs.
``(B) Specialized instructional support services.--The term `specialized
instructional support services' means the services provided by specialized
instructional support personnel.''

58. Who are our “natural” coalition partners
National Alliance of Specialized Instructional
Support Personnel (NASISP)
Representing more than one million members,
including school counselors, school nurses,
psychologists, school psychologists, social workers,
school social workers; occupational therapists,
physical therapists, art therapists,
dance/movement therapists, music therapists;
speech-language pathologists and audiologists,
NASISP members work with teachers, students,
parents, and administrators to collaborate for
student success.

59. NASISP Member Organizations:
http://nasisp.org/Our_MembersALT.html
American Art Therapy Association (AATA)
American Counseling Association (ACA)
American Council for School Social Work (ACSSW)
American Dance Therapy Association (ADTA)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Music Therapy Association (AMTA)
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)
American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
National Association of Pupil Services Administrators (NAPSA)
National Association of School Nurses (NASN)
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
National Education Association (NEA)
School Social Work Association of America (SSWAA)

60. State and local
coalitions, work
groups, and task
forces:
• New Revenue for Education
• Early Childhood and pre-K
Coalitions
• K-8 Workgroups and Coalitions
• College and Career Ready
Coalitions and Task Forces
• Specialized Instructional
Support Personnel or Allied
Professions
• Gifted Students
• At-Risk Students
• Disability

61. The Difference
Between
Someone should…
and
I will…

62. How to Build
a Coalition
Advancing your agenda by making
it part of other agendas

63. Is this Coalition Right for Us?
• A clear ‘ask’ to potential members?
• A buy-in for membership?
• Is the coalition organized for success?
• Goals and Definition for Success & Failure
• Committees
• Roles for each organization
• Is there a track record of communications
• Is there a budget (money or time) for coalition?
• Do they pass your gut check and sniff test?

64. Building a New Coalition
A clear ‘ask’ to potential members
What is the problem / solution?
What defines buy-in?
Identify coalition leadership, key organizations,
and junior partner organizations
Draft an coalition organizational chart / structure
Committees
Roles for each organization

65. Building a New Coalition
Internal communications protocols and
infrastructure
Communications with external stakeholders, the
public, and lobbying targets
Budget for coalition work (Money and Time)

66. Scope out Committees (1 of 2)
Media Outreach
Charged with cultivating earned media with traditional print, radio, and TV along with bloggers,
connectors, and emerging media. ID spokespeople for message segments. Maintain individual
reporter/creator portfolios.
Corporate Outreach
Charged with identifying and communicating with key business leaders and round tables for support,
endorsement, spokespersons, and funding for coalition work.
Educational Outreach
Charged with developing alignments across the P-21 service area while identifying potential
spokespeople for the library from public, private, and parochial K-12 and higher education along with
for-profit child care, tutoring service, and classroom extenders.
Research
Charged to collecting and disseminating relevant information, data and research, or developing and
advancing a research agenda to advance the coalition goals.

67. Scope out Committees (2 of 2)
Political Outreach
Charged with communicating effectively with local, state, and federal political actors concerning
Coalition goals including endorsements and alignments.
Events
Charged with planning outreach, advocacy, and educational events; includes maintaining volunteer
databases for each district.
Social Networks and Constituent Communications
Charged with maintaining Coalition messaging through various social networks
Multi-Language Resources
Charged with providing rapid, accurate translation of key constituent communications.

68. Building a New Coalition
Defining success and failure includes
the emotional preparation for failure
Insider expectations are often inversely
correlated to the likelihood of success
Engineer “Small Victories” early in the
process - either benchmarks or
occurrences
Communication from stakeholders
barely happens ever

69. Negotiations
Negotiations and Lobbying are often
mistaken for one in the same thing

70. PSLA In
Harrisburg
Where does
funding come
from?
New or exiting
funding?
Is there a
legislative or
regulatory
authorization
already in place?
What are the
priorities of my
coalition partners?
What is the
“regular” way
that decisions are
made?
How can I make
this easy for
them?

71. At the
District Level
A district negotiation uses the same
principles of Coalition Building

72. District-Level Negotiations
• Define the problem and discuss the goal
• Develop a ‘landscape memo’ of how your issue fits into the
work of the committee, council or board; Know the dates
• Develop a Dossier (School District, School Board, Community)
• Develop an Elected Official Profile
• Rewrite the budget or policy framework

73. District Dossier
• School Capacity & Budget Issues
• Organizational Chart and Headcount Trends
• School Demographic Profile
• Aid Uptake and Reliance
• District Mission / Vision
• Community Infrastructure
• Demographic Profile of Community

74. “District Dossier”
School Capacity:
2017, 2018, 2019 budget
Starting salary for SL
Bargaining Unit
Organizational Chart and Headcount Trend:
Prior Librarian?
Para, aides, volunteers
Literacy coaches
Space Evaluation
Is there a library space?
Is there a collection in the school?
Is there an ILS?
Classroom libraries
1:1 and tech in classroom
School Demographic Profile:
Current Students
Projections
Faculty and Staff Profile
Board Profile
Superintendent
Union Local
News coverage (18-24 months)
Aid uptake:
E-rate; Title I
History of Grant support for literacy and tech
Percentage of IEP
Pre-K full or ½ Day
District Mission / Vision:
Goals - Reading, Math, ELL
Graduation Rate
College Ready
IB or AP
School Culture
Community Infrastructure:
PTA & Parent volunteers
Clubs
After School / After Care
School Facebook & Social
Awards and Recognition
Alumni and recent grads
did they feel prepared for info literacy?
Key Donors and Partners
Donors Choose Profile
Demographic Profile of Community:
Tax base, trends, projections - Property & Sales
Employment and employers

75. Are We Ready
to Begin?
What’s in the way?

76. Sources of Objections and Opposition
Organizational Concerns - Agency, Skills, and Practice
Perception Concerns - In Harrisburg; Among the public
Policy Objections - Allies and stakeholders; Fundability; “Veto
power”

77. Question: Organizational Concerns
WHAT HAS GONE
WELL WITH SETTING
AND MOVING THE
PSLA AGENDA IN THE
PAST?
WHAT HAS NOT
GONE WELL WITH
‘PUSHING’ YOUR
AGENDA?
WHAT COULD BE
DONE DIFFERENTLY
OR IMPROVED?

78. Question: Perception Concerns
How are school
librarians seen in
districts?
At the Capitol?
By (potential) allies?
In the media?

79. Question: Policy Concerns
Do we know enough to articulate my values and vision in the
policy framework used in PA?
Who has veto power in our organization?
Is there existing money that would fund our agenda or is new
money required?

80. Messaging
Advancing your agenda by finding
folks with the same agenda

81. Four Stories to Tell
Personal/Organizational
stories about successes
that emphasize values.
Personal/Organizational
stories of failures that
demonstrate integrity.
Stories about other
people who are
important to you.
Stories that the other
person “wants to hear”.

82. Messaging About Money
“More” vs. “Right”
“Where is my Money going?”
“Who is going to spend my money?

83. Like – Support - Identify
I like what you are doing
I support what you are doing
I want to be identified with what you are doing

84. Model Work Plan
Surfacing your state’s ESSA Process
Environmental Scan of Existing Coalitions
Developing strategy within the Process to include school library programs and
school librarian positions
Supporting the PSLA stakeholders
Coalition Work

85. Drink Coffee

87. Thank You
John Chrastka, EveryLibrary
john.Chrastka@everylibrary.org
312-574-0316
facebook.com/everylibrary
@everylibrary