Ensuring the Future of Public Schools
By: Debra Schade, Public School Trustee and Member, California School Boards Association, and Mike Connor, President of Connor Associates
All told, the national decline in public school enrollment last year was the largest since the turn of the 21st Century. As enrollment challenges continue, public schools and their districts will need to listen attentively and market themselves authentically to compete for families. Adequate funding is essential to a quality educational experience for your students. That funding depends on your district’s fundraising ability and your ability to maintain or increase your market share among an increasing array of alternatives. Are you ready?
A Clarion Call for Public Schools.
Last year, California saw the largest drop in K-12 public school enrollment over the past 20 years, according to the California Department of Education. A 3% loss representing 160,000 students in one year alone.
The Downward Spike in Public School Enrollment is National.
New federal data confirms the pandemic’s blow to public K-12 enrollment, with a drop of 1.5 million students, also 3%. Most notably, enrollment in PK programs nationally experienced a 22% decline.
“All told, the national decline in public school enrollment last year was the largest since the turn of the 21st Century.”
Certainly, demographic shifts and increasing competition in the educational marketplace are also at work. But the fact remains: In 2020-2021 massive numbers of families left public K-12 schools. Facing a choice between full-time virtual school or safety considerations, families chose private schools, charter schools, or homeschooling.
What Are Private Schools Doing Right?
In a trend that is on the upswing, private schools have endorsed and funded marketing research as a reliable tool to drive enrollment and retention. Many charter schools are also on board, and have been successfully drawing public school students for years by doing a better job of marketing their programs to potential families.
What Should Public Schools Do?
The fact that private and charter schools benefited from pandemic-related public school losses points to public schools’ struggle to meet the needs and demands of their communities.
Many public school districts started in earnest to turn to marketing as a strategy for enrollment and retention in the last decade. Most efforts count on online surveys to gather important feedback from their stakeholders. These are typically written by district staff, don’t always get to the heart of the problem, nor do they understand parents’ deeper motivation for change, or provide enough detail to translate results into action. District-based surveys are a start, but don’t allow for follow-up questions to get to the deeper reasons families are choosing other alternatives.
“As public school enrollment challenges continue, they will need to market themselves in an increasingly competitive educational landscape. In essence, they must effectively compete for families to ensure adequate funding and the ability to offer a quality educational experience for their students. School choice is here to stay.”
Professional marketing experts can assist public schools and districts in learning their strengths and weaknesses, including perceptions or misperceptions. For example, interviews with key stakeholders can capture open-ended responses and reveal important areas of incongruence in what you think your district’s reputation is versus how your community perceives it. Most importantly, qualitative research can reveal information that helps to answer the questions “How can we effectively present our successes and authentically claim who we are, what we stand for, and where we’re headed? Is there a market for that vision?
Does your community know about your robust public service programs or the remarkable STEM, arts, and music education your students receive? Do they feel the school is providing an education that will benefit their children in the world they will inherit? What does your community believe are the key components of a 21st Century curriculum? How are you implementing that? Does your community believe you are delivering on your district’s mission for student success? How do you define “success?”
Market research helps you discover what resonates with your constituents. Marketing educates your local community about the great things that are happening in your school district that they care about. For example, how are your graduates making a positive impact of the world?
“The act of listening is priority one. Telling your stories that reflect you’ve heard them —stories that will resonate with those you serve—is incredibly important to a family’s decision to move into the area and enroll in their community public school. It also decides whether they will go elsewhere.”
Great Public Schools, Great Communities.
Great public schools build great communities. The stakes are high. As public schools continue to experience declining enrollment, the exodus of students will have a significant impact on funding. Public school leaders strive to provide schools of choice for families and build trust with the community to support bond ballot initiatives as well as attract and retain highly skilled and quality staff. But first you need to know what your community believes about your district.
“Any good business, including the important business of public school education, should strive to continually assess its impact on the constituents they serve.”
How parents and community members perceive the district is a huge part of school choice. Perception can be more important than reality. A perceived lack of support from school staff and perceived limitations on the quality of instruction may drive parents away.
“How parents and community members perceive the district is a huge part of school choice. Perception can be more important than reality.”
Market research of important constituent groups in a school community can help school districts know who they are, how they are perceived, and how they can improve to address the unique needs of their community. Using well-constructed internal and external surveys to uncover value and measure success is important. Supplementing those surveys with confidential qualitative interviews to understand perceptions on important constituents will help reveal a strategy to shape your district’s selling points.
“Good market research conducted by an outside professional provides a more objective view of your school and facilitates honest feedback. And that feedback is the source of a building a strong, positive identity and a long-term successful marketing campaign to back it up.”
Are You Ready?
Every school and district have multiple constituents they must serve. Marketing starts with listening and then acting on important feedback from all the various constituents you serve. This intelligence is the driver of a strategic direction that in turn drives continuous institution-wide improvement and builds a strong community reputation.
As enrollment challenges continue, public schools and public school districts will need to listen attentively and market themselves authentically to compete for families. Adequate funding is essential to a quality educational experience for your students. That’s all about funding. And that funding depends solely on your district’s ability to maintain or increase your market share.
Are you ready?
Connor Associates stakes its value on its experience with providing comprehensive services, including ensuring proof of ROI through Image Audits (reputational asset and risk management), Alumni and Alumni Parent Surveys, Enrollment Feasibility Studies which identify qualified appropriate prospects at rooftop level, Five-year enrollment Forecasts, Location Studies, Business Office Evaluations and Plans, Strategic Marketing Plans based on research, and onsite training and coaching to get everyone in your school and your trustees supporting enrollment, retention, and philanthropy.
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