Running head: GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN PLAN

Government Class of 2016 Campaign Plan for Education Reform

Cheyenne F. Benson
Dayton Regional STEM School

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Abstract

The Class of 2016 at the Dayton Regional STEM School taking the class Government for second
semester completed a campaign with the aim of targeting the most pressing issues in the state of
Ohios education system and reforming them. Initial insource research was conducted to
determine the platform of the campaign: reform of standardized testing, allocating more test
production to universities and scholarly groups, and changing the way in which the state of Ohio
allocates funding to its schools. The campaign produced a mix of print and digital products
designed to appeal to its two major target audiences, other schools and the ODE and state
education legislators. The campaign will target sympathetic school districts initially to gain
traction and support. The campaign will then approach the ODE and state legislators with its
concerns and proposals for a solution. Consecutive Government classes at DRSS will maintain
the campaign to continue bringing about education reform.

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Government Class of 2016 Campaign Plan for Education Reform

Phase 1: Research
The Government class at the Dayton Regional STEM School, after a thorough review of the
issues educators face and considering how that is or can be affected by state education policy, has
decided that the most pressing issues affecting education in the state of Ohio is the extensive
mandated standardized testing and funding requirements unrelated to education due to the
disconnect between state legislature and its actual effectiveness at a small, school level. This is
because many schools, including the STEM school, have faced severe disruption of class time
and an increasingly inefficient learning environment due to the stipulations of the state mandated
testing. The state also passes much legislature that schools are required to comply with if they are
to receive funding that distracts from the educational environment.
It is important to perform research as the initial phase because it is important to know what
the current issues are, the ongoing attempts to fix them, and the current governments stance on
these issues before launching a campaign. Being well-informed and having an arsenal of
information is critical to a campaign. Electoral campaigns often draw upon vast stores of voter
data to formulate plans on how to swing undecided voters to their side: which arguments to
make, which issues to focus on, and where to campaign, for instance. To have a successful
campaign and start to change the state of education in Ohio it is necessary to have answers to
similar questions: what issues can this class successfully campaign on? Who should the
campaign address to sway them?
Throughout the course of research it was modeled upon the election model of research, such
as when candidates run for president. The beginning steps of any presidential campaigns are

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when candidates perform research to learn whether or not they should even run. They must
determine if the odds are favorable to them (such as whether or not there is an incumbent), and if
they are, what issues to stress during the campaign. The campaign did the same by using initial
research to determine the campaign issues that not only fit with what current issues were but also
with what was achievable. While presidential candidates use polling and focus groups to
determine the issues they should focus on and stances that they should take, the campaign asked
educators, staff and students inside of our school to determine the most pressing issues to
campaign upon.
Throughout the insource portion of research, the campaign reached out to several teachers
and staff members here at the school to give their viewpoint on education. Three teachers (Mr.
Grieve, Mr. Lydy, and Mrs. Reid) as well as two staff members (Mrs. Strickland and Mr. Slone)
presented. Each of them explained their unique view on the education system, its regulations,
how it is funded, and their ideas to remodel it. Online research was also completed to determine
allies, obstacles, and important information to disseminate during the campaign.
The internal research uncovered many points of interest. For example, much scholarly
thought is clearly not put into the production of tests. The companies responsible for producing
the tests the country uses meet at a professional conference only once a year for just three days.
One of the major companies profiting from Ohios testing, Pearson, even admits that focusing
too much on test scores hurts students and cheats them out of the quality education that
sometimes cant be measured by standardized tests (Johnson, 2013). Only ten states now remain
that continue to go through with the difficult PARCC testing, Ohio being one of the few (PARCC
States, 2015). Additionally, through insource research, it was found that Ohios system of

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funding the education system is unconstitutional and unfair to the system. Ohio makes a state
budget, and then leftover funds are allocated to education.
After conducting insource research by communicating with all of the schools internal
resources, it was determined that the most important issues of our campaign were standardized
testing and how schools are funded. Through discussion on what ways these issues could be
resolved, insource experts gave their opinions and some of the suggestions were adapted into the
campaign platform. Mrs. Reid suggested testing be administrated by universities, which do not
stand to profit from testing like companies and corporations do, and actually are run by scholars
and experienced educators instead of government agencies and business people. Mr. Slone
suggested analyzing how other states fund their schools, and after enlightening the campaign as
to the way Ohio funds schools (first making a budget and then giving leftovers to education),
part of the platform is to reform the education funding system by not asking more and more of
the education system while giving it paltry funding.
The Government class campaign is likely to find supporters and allies in other school
districts and their educators, administrators, and staff. Many other schools are increasingly
frustrated with the government standards, and some that are not as well off as our school have an
even harder time conforming to them. If these schools sense a legitimate, reasonable campaign
with the potential to go far they will support it.
On the other hand, several people and organizations will be rather hostile to the reforms this
campaign proposes. The Association of Test Publishers (ATP), a large group formed of all the
major testing companies in the nation and dedicated to preserving standardized testing, would
very likely be greatly opposed to the campaigns initiative to reduce testing in the state of Ohio.
Pearson, an international testing company, has major divisions in Ohio. This is an indication that

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Pearson believes the Ohio government will increase testing and therefore Pearsons market in
Ohio; therefore, a campaign to reduce standardized testing in the state will be met with enmity
from those companies profiting from an increase in testing.
In addition, as we will be campaigning against the disconnect between the passage of state
legislature related to education and actual education, we may find opposition in legislators who
enjoy the cushion of anonymity between the passage of state legislature and the direct
repercussions in the real world. Constituents are further removed from the representatives,
sheltering representatives from public opinion. A threat to this could be opposed by current
legislators.

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Phase 2: Product Development

The campaign would be wise to use mostly digital products to disseminate the
information on our campaign. As a campaign with no funding, creating print advertisements cost
too much and their effectiveness can be matched with a skillful deployment of digital
advertisements. There are two main audiences that the campaign needs to reach: other schools to
garner their support for the campaign, and the legislators in Ohio responsible for education and
the ODE. While some products (such as letters or proposals) should be printed, campaign
materials (especially those targeted towards other schools) should be digital.
There are a variety of products that the campaign will produce to target its two audiences.
To broadcast the campaigns message, a website will be produced and will feature all of the
digital products created for the campaign. These include short sixty second satirical videos (to
persuade students), infographics (to persuade adult school faculty and perhaps informally present
to legislators), and a social media presence on Youtube and Facebook. More printed products
will be used to target legislators, such as flyers, posters, and handouts that describe the campaign
and its solutions.
This mix of media in the campaign is akin to that of present political campaigns, where
both print ads and digital ads are used to promote a candidate (Online Candidate, n.d.). Political
candidates have websites where they provide updates of their campaign status and digital
newsletters and products, just as this campaign will place digital products on its campaign
website.
Throughout the campaign, a consistent font and color scheme will be employed to keep
branding and cohesion throughout the campaign. This is important because it distinguishes the

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campaign as a united and organized force, showing that it can organize itself and provides more
sway and reliability to the campaign. Historically and even up until present day, political
campaigns have always had a consistent theme, from color scheme to slogan to principle
campaign issue. For example, Obamas Change and Hope campaign posters were very
cohesive and united his campaign (Tea Party, 2012).
A personal idea presented for the campaign slogan was Stop the Insanity. This
developed as result of the need for a tagline in the sixty second satirical skit scripts. Because the
skits were satirical and blew the unreasonable actions of the ODE into insanity, it fit the video
and also the general campaign.
The campaign will face substantial difficulty locating and using funds to support itself.
This is different from most political campaigns, where candidates often receive donations from
lobbysists or individuals interested in seeing that certain politician succeed. However, as political
campaigns do, this campaign will need to balance its budget very carefully and make choices
about which aspects of the campaign are worth the cost. While political campaigns weigh the
benefits and costs of items like campaign coordinators or TV advertisements, this campaign must
budget print materials and possibly travel costs to speak to legislators.

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Phase 3: Campaign Rollout

The campaign will be made public through the aforementioned variety of media (online
presences through social networking and a professional website) and an outreach effort with
tangible products and exposure to some digital media. For example, the campaign will begin by
first reaching out to other nearby school districts and persuading them to ally themselves with the
cause through the use of the developed campaign material and then, once equipped with the
support of many schools and a more legitimate presence, the campaign will begin contacting the
Ohio Department of Education and state legislators to gain political traction. The campaign will
employ a campaign model closer to the Bush model than the Clinton model, where it will
identify school districts already in support of the education reform our campaign proposes and
offering those schools a voice through our campaign, encouraging activity in our campaign
(Bianco, 2011). This is different than the Clinton model, which we may employ as we move
further and encounter state legislators, where we will target persuading those legislators who
may disagree or be ambivalent to our reform.
The primary method of communication employed by the campaign should be digital
communications like emails with high-profile targets (legislators and principals of other school
districts) and digital media like websites or videos for large audiences (students in other school
districts, for example). This is cheap and effective. In modern campaigns much public outreach
and communication is conducted digitally (Bianco, 2011). While there is value in traditional
methods like polling and door-to-door campaigning, digital methods arent costly (perfect for
this campaign) and still effective.
Once the campaign takes off, students in following government classes should maintain
the movement, and a club could be established to keep the campaign maintained. Over the

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summer, the campaign will have to be minimally managed. As legislators typically take a
summer recess as well, this should not be a major issue.

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References

Bianco, W., & Canon, D. (2011). American Politics Today (2nd ed.). Norton.
Johnson, E. (2013, March 3). Teacher standoff stokes debate over standardized tests. Retrieved
March 9, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/03/us-usa-education-testingidUSBRE92207B20130303
Online Candidate (n.d). Is Your Campaign Budgeting For Digital? (n.d.). Retrieved March 24,
2015, from http://www.onlinecandidate.com/articles/campaign-budgeting-digital
PARCC States. (2015, January 1). Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://parcconline.org/parccstates
Tea Party News. (2012, May 6). Obama: 2012 campaign still about 'hope' and 'change'.
Retrieved March 24, 2015, from http://www.teaparty.org/obama-2012-campaign-stillabout-hope-and-change-5890/