Pocket Pointers - how to deal with criticism of education - Brief Article

School Administrator, Feb, 1997

How should you respond when you overhear an unfair criticism about the state of public education?

If you work in school administration in Oregon, you probably pull from your pocket a handy index card from the Oregon School Services Bureau that spouts "education talking points"-pithy statistical comparisons on property tax rates, expenditures, and staffing. The most recent card distributed to all superintendents, central-office administrators, and principals provides ammunition for combating off-base remarks about high-spending public schools.

Bureau Director Frank McNamara says: "We encourage them to ... refer to it when in conversation, to use the information when speaking to civic and community groups, site councils, board members, etc., and to use it in newsletters."

He hopes to distribute new cards a half dozen times a year.