Thanks to the leadership of hundreds of educators and school board members, Believe in a Better Colorado is off to a great start.

Here is a sampling of “get-the-word-out” internal communications strategies districts are using to educate public school employees and school board members about Believe in a Better Colorado:

• Adams 12 Five Star Schools in Thornton created a five-month strategic communications plan to educate all internal audiences about the need to more effectively fund essential public services. The plan taps district wide and school-based staff meetings and e-newsletters to feature the Believe in a Better Colorado DVD, PowerPoint and handouts – repeating key messages each month through April 2008. During a May 2008 interview with 9News, Superintendent Mike Paskewicz repeated one of our key messages, saying that tax reform is crucial by 2011 because of the perfect storm that’s brewing with Referendum C, Amendment 23 and TABOR. Click here to view the story.

• Administrators in both Jeffco Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools convened to view the DVD. They and local association leaders are now sharing it with staff in their schools and central departments.

• Poudre School District in Fort Collins is using the DVD at districtwide and individual school staff meetings. Tapping local facts and the talking points provided in the tool kit, the district’s internal electronic newsletter featured the initiative and promoted the Web site to 3,500 employees.

• The Littleton Public Schools superintendent and local CEA president have authored newsletter articles for employees – and the board featured Believe in a Better Colorado during a work session.

• School districts in Alamosa, Creede, Strasburg and Westminster showed the DVD to every employee and school board member during back-to-school orientations.

• District employees in Wiggins received a fact sheet customized with local stories.

• In some districts – such as Pueblo 60 and 70 and Salida and Buena Vista – superintendents, school board presidents and local CEA presidents are partnering with neighboring districts to raise awareness among employees and school board members.

We encourage district teams to ensure employees and school board members are well-informed and can speak with one voice about the need for changes to our tax structure. Consider including regular mentions in employee communications – such as citing a statistic from the tool kit (see the “for districts ready for phase two” link) and encouraging employees to visit this Web site.