‘Get message out’: Chatman addresses school PR pros

Declaring “The crisis is at the door,” CSBA President Paul H. Chatman urged members of the California School Public Relations Association to work with their governance teams to educate their communities about the threat posed by the state’s budget problems. (See related stories in this issue.)

“Start an aggressive campaign to let them know how hurtful this budget is,” Chatman advised CalSPRA members attending the organization’s Sacramento Summit in January. “Get the message out how devastating the recommended budget cuts are going to be. … It’s something you have to do now.”

Chatman was joined in a panel discussion at the CalSPRA conference by Susan Aronson, a former local school board member who represented Region 6 on CSBA’s Board of Directors in the 1990s. Aronson now heads Aronson Public Relations, a consulting firm whose clients include advocates for children’s interests.

“Find some models of where they are doing it right. Talk to CSBA,” Aronson counseled. “You need to really paint that picture—not just for your district, but for each school.”