Sound strategies

Knowledge is Power: Leveraging Public Information to Advocate

Austin Ahlborn

School districts are publicly funded institutions that are required to maintain transparency in their operations. Because of this, information about your school district and districts across Ohio that can help you better advocate for your program is available to you. As music educators, we often excel at running and managing our own programs, but it’s equally important to know how your school operates. Especially when it comes time to advocate for your program, or even for yourself, this knowledge is more powerful, and more accessible, than many people realize. You just need to know where to look.

The Public-School Board

Your publicly elected school board is required to operate under what are commonly referred to as “Sunshine Laws”. What this means is that the business of the school board must be conducted openly and be accessible to the public, with few exceptions (such as student and personnel records). Because of this, records about district operations, finances, and policies can often be accessed.

For example, linked here are the board meeting minutes for Columbus City School’s September 16th meeting, hosted on BoardDocs. Other districts may use Google Drive or host documents on their website, but all districts are required to make these board meeting minutes and documents publicly available so that you can be fully informed on what transpired.

Using CCS as an example, under “Treasurer CFO-Executive Report”, you can read CCS’ five-year forecast that was updated at this meeting. From this forecast, we learn that CCS is cutting their annual budget by $50 million but are still expecting current cash reserves to run out by 2030. Because Columbus City is one of the largest districts in the state, this deficit spending has been covered by the local news (read more here). The same coverage may not be available for your school district but budget information, policy changes, and more can often be found in these meeting minutes, and you should make use of it!

The Contract

If you are in a public school in Ohio, then you are likely aware that your local teacher’s union regularly negotiates with the school district on behalf of the certified staff. The comprehensive contract created in this process contains information about things like the salary schedule, sick leave, evaluations, and much more. Reading and understanding this document is one area where we often don’t sufficiently prepare our pre-service teachers, despite the advantages that come with fully knowing your contract.

If you have concerns about how much you are being paid, the number of students in your class, or how your position could be affected in the event of budget cuts, the contract is the first place to look. If you’re curious how that compares to neighboring districts, or even in a district where you may be applying for a position, the contract should have the answers to these questions. When in doubt, your union can help address these questions too.

In my last position, I served on the supplemental committee for our union as we were preparing for negotiations. Teachers were dissatisfied with our supplemental pay, and the district was struggling to retain coaches and club advisors. By comparing the supplemental contracts of the districts around us, we were able to note discrepancies in pay and provide a likely answer for why we struggled to maintain supplemental staff.

In negotiations, we were able to double the pay of many of the advisor positions on the lowest rung of the supplemental pay scale (such as band camp staff) and increase percentages in other areas (including our choir director’s supplemental) that were deemed underpaid relative to the other schools in our general area. This was only based on information from the contracts in districts surrounding us. I strongly advise you to consider how information like this might be leveraged in your own program to assist you in your own advocacy needs.

The Power of Public Records

Board documents and the contract will often provide enough information for you to get started, but you may find that there are still some missing pieces. Fortunately, as a public institution, your public school district is required to operate in alignment with Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 419.43.

This statute states that most records maintained by state, city, and other local officials (including school districts) qualify as publicly accessible. This not only includes records such as budget documents and curriculums but also emails between staff members through school email. While this should serve as a reminder to continue to be cautious of what you send in your district email, the use of public records for increased understanding and advocacy can be even more beneficial than the potential downsides.

The Ohio Bar Association has provided a convenient template for these types of requests with Ohio institutions. Although, if you are seeking documents about the district where you’re employed, I would recommend asking your teacher’s union about ways to gain access before submitting a formalized request. They likely know where those documents can be found or who to ask.

With these requests, the more specific you can be, as noted in the template, the more likely you are to succeed. Sometimes requests may be denied, but any denial must be accompanied by a reason. It may seem like a daunting legal process, but public records requests are meant to make information accessible and help ensure that our schools and government are operating with transparency.

Conclusion

By knowing how your district operates, you will be far better equipped to not only advocate for your program but also for yourself. While hopefully your administrators, union representatives, and community are there to support you, coming to them with information that you’ve already gathered and analyzed will help set you up for success. When you bring relevant, publicly accessible data, it provides tangible evidence and allows those you are working with to better advocate for you. Don’t underestimate what you can learn by digging through public records with a little bit of time and patience!

Austin Ahlborn is a graduate student at The Ohio State University, studying Music Education and Public Policy & Administration. He currently serves on the OMEA advocacy committee and during his time as a 5-12th grade Band Director, was involved with his local teacher’s union, serving as Vice President and on various committees. As a researcher, he is interested in how nonprofit organizations support and impact music educators and music students in the United States, and he is currently focused on addressing barriers to student access with musical extracurricular opportunities, such as all-state ensembles.

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