Moving a citizens to support schools with strategic doing
We've been collecting powerful stories of strategic doing from across the country.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Bruce Connolly, Director of the Center for Education Innovation and Regional Economic Development in Milwaukee, WI:
I have been using strategic planning models and balance scorecard models for the past twenty years. All with some degree of noted success. When I switched to strategic doing model, I noticed an immediate change in the energy and enthusiasm of stakeholders. It goes straight to the point without overwrought exercises and susceptibility to special interest groups in shaping the plan.
Perhaps the most poignant difference is the scope and speed of delivery with this model. You can get from drawing board to results much quicker. And isn't that the point: to move from Point A to B? Everybody wants to be at Point B.
Here's an example of how we used strategic doing:
Like many first-tier suburbs of Milwaukee, the St. Francis School District was faced with aging facilities and declining enrollments. Severe budget shortfalls in the recent past had nearly led to bankruptcy.
The district had numerous facility needs that required urgent attention. However, the lack of a strong community identity, coupled with strained community relations, created widespread negative perceptions about the school district. The chances of passing a referendum to fund the facilities projects were extremely slim.
Employing the Strategic Doing for Civic Good Model, a team of community members and business partners worked with experts at the Center for Education Innovation and Regional Economic Development to create a compelling case and coordinated outreach effort. The result was the overwhelming passage of a multi-million dollar referendum to make much needed building repairs and replace of out-of-date district technology.
A referendum in this community had not been approved in the prior twenty years. The district, through open enrollment, serves only 52% resident students, meaning that nearly half of the students do not live in the district nor their parents pay taxes in the district to support education. The community was influenced by the “civic good” recognizing that the education of students is a regional community task not just limited to the artificial boundaries of a small urban school district.
