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Local Budget Campaign:�AnyDistrict NCAE: 2024

Fund the Schools We Deserve

In the chat, please share out:

Your Name, pronouns & Local Affiliate
What would feel like a meaningful local budget win for your affiliate?

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What NCAE Wants

For Our Students: Learning conditions that

are safe, healthy, and modern
affirm the value and dignity of each student
allow each student to thrive and reach their full potential

For Our Staff: Working conditions that

Are safe, healthy, and supportive
Ensure that every school worker feels valued and respected
Provide compensation and benefits that inspire more people to want to work for North Carolina public schools

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Finding Common Ground with Policy Makers

Staff is dedicated to setting every student up for success. It’s hard right now because…

Your affiliate and the school district share an interest in retaining as many staff members as we can. Fairly compensating workers and improving facilities will improve working conditions and retain staff over time.

Your affiliate and the school district share an interest in creating and maintaining safe, equitable learning conditions for all students.

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How Schools are Funded in North Carolina

(Example: Wake County)

3 Primary Revenue Sources:

State, Local, & Federal

Separate Funding Streams for:

Operations – staffing, transportation costs, supplies, etc.
Buildings - maintenance, construction, & other capital costs

Capital costs funded primarily w/ local dollars (including bond referendums)

Which budgets are you as NCAE members most able to influence? Why?

Federal? State? Local?

Local school funding is a big part of how we get to $20K by 2030, so let’s review some basics about how school budgets are constructed. The fiscal year for each school district runs from July 1 through June 30th, so that it more or less coincides with each school year. That fiscal year and budget cycle is the same for the State of North Carolina and for each of our 100 counties. CLICK FORWARD FOR ANIMATION.

School district budgets are divided into two primary kinds of expenses: operations and building maintenance. Operations include staff salaries and benefits, along with transportation costs, supplies, and all the regular costs of running schools and supporting students every day. Building costs include things like HVAC maintenance, roof repair, painting, and new construction, and are often referred to as capital costs. Capital costs are funded differently than operational costs, often through local bonds approved by voters.

To demonstrate I'm using numbers from Wake County. 68% of Wake County Schools' projected budget for next year goes to operations, while 32% is allocated for building related costs.

So, where does the money for operations and building costs come from? CLICK FORWARD FOR ANIMATION.

There are three primary sources of revenue for public schools in North Carolina. School funding models are different in every state. Most North Carolina districts receive about 60% of their funding from the state budget, a little over 30% from their local County budget, and less than 10% in federal funding. The exact proportions are different for every district, based on both state funding formulas and on the approach of each County Commission.

So if we want to have an impact on budget decisions, we have to engage policy makers at every level – from NEA to NCAE and through the on the ground work of each local affilliate.

What are a few things you have done to influence budget decisions this past year – either at the local, state, or national level? Take a few examples and move on.

3:03 before taking examples. Add 30 seconds.

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Recommended Affiliate Engagement Timeline:

October-January: Engage members & identify top budget priorities for upcoming budget cycle
February-March: Engage superintendent early in process; launch public & community campaign
March-May: Meet with School Board Members, turn out to BOE public hearing & work sessions
April-June: Meet with County Commissioners (and county manager!?)

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The Local Budget Process & Timeline

1) School Board REQUESTS $$$ from the County

(March) Superintendent presents Proposed Budget Request to BOE & Public

(March-May) Public Hearing, Community Input, BOE Work Sessions

(April/May) Board of Education Finalizes Budget Request

2) County Commission

Sets Budget

(May) County Manager Presents Recommended Budget

(April-June) Public Hearing & Community input, BOCC Work Sessions

(June) County Commission Adopts Final Budget

3) School District Adjusts Budget Based on what it gets

(July/August)

Did the County fund the full request?

How does the State budget affect the school district?

Charter Enrollment % Set Aside

There are two main phases in developing school district budgets. First the superintendent develops and presents a budget proposal to the school board. The Superintendent begins work on the budget in November and presents a proposed budget to the School Board by March or April of each year. School boards then hold a public hearing to receive community and holding a series of budget work sessions. School Boards typically finalize their budget request by May. If you want to influence the budget, it is very important to begin engaging your Superintendent and school board members as early in the process as possible.

Meanwhile the County Manager requests budgets from every county department between January and March, and uses those along with the request from the school board to put together their recommended budget for the entire County. The manager typically presents this to the County Commission in May, with the Commission adopting its final budget in June in time for the new fiscal year to begin in July. CLICK ANIMATIONS 2 TIMES

The most important thing to keep in mind is your timeline for engagement. If you want to influence the County Commission budget in June, you have to first plan to engage the school board by April and May after engaging the Superintendent in February and March. Ideally, that also means figuring out by January what your affiliate wants to prioritize. There are many demands on your time in your work to lead your affiliates, so it is easy to allow these dates to get away from us and end up getting a late start on budget work in April or May. That weakens our position thought, because the district and county are making plans and decisions throughout this time period and often are in conversation with each other. County Managers often use the superintendent’s budget request as a baseline for planning 6-8 weeks before the Board of Education approves a final budget.

For those of you interested in taking on significant budget campaigns this coming school year, NCAE will be offering a more comprehensive workshop in __________, which you can register for right now using the QR code on your screen.

STOP AT 18:14

IF TIME:

What’s tricky is that school districts – and counties to some extent – still have to adjust to budget decisions that the General Assembly makes AFTER the county budget process concludes. That’s because Counties are legally required to finalize their budgets by June, before they know what is actually in the state budget. This is a challenging process for counties and school districts that set their local supplement’s as a percentage of state salaries.

A few things to keep in mind in this process:

County Commissions sometimes provide more funding than recommended by the County Manager, but are never going to give school districts MORE MONEY than the District requested. So the first step is to make sure that your local affiliate’s priorities are included in the official school district budget request.
County Commissions rarely approve the entire School Board budget request, so if you really need $12 million in new funds it may be wise to request $16 million.

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Elements of Effective Budget Campaigns

ORGANIZE workers & community allies
SET CLEAR DEMANDS

Move from vague issues and concerns to SPECIFIC POLICY SOUTIONS

Example: Educators aren’t paid enough $18/hour, 5% raise, etc.
Example: Our schools are falling apart $465 million school bond

ENGAGE elected officials

Meet with Board of Education members (and the Superintendent)
Meet with County Commissioners

SHOW UP at public meetings

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Relationships Matter: �Engaging Policy Makers

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Build & Sustain Authentic Relationships

State Legislators

School Board Members

County Commissioners

Key Staff:

Superintendent
County Manager & Budget Director
Legislative Aides

Relationships matter at every level, and sometimes even more than you might think. Every relationship that you are able to build with your local superintendents, school board members, and county commissioners has a ripple effect. Elected officials talk with each other often. Superintendents, school board members, and especially County Commissioners have influence with members of the general assembly.

This past April a conservative Republican Representative from Henderson County helped remove damaging language from a charter school bill after hearing concerns from members of the Henderson Board of Education that he respected. More than xx Superintendents have taken public positions opposing school voucher expansion, and that his having an impact on budget negotiations as legislators realize there is less support for vouchers, even in safe Republican districts, than they had believed.

The work you and your affiliate work do to build relationships with local policy makers strengthens your ability to shape local policy and budgets in your districts, but it also does much more than that. Those relationships allow you to ask your Superintendent, your school board, your county commissioners, to weigh in directly in behind the scenes ways with your State Senators and State Representatives. Those kinds of conversations, which you can help shape and influence through dialogue with local leaders, can significantly affect the positions legislators take both within their own Republican or Democratic Caucus, as well as publicly.

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ROLE PLAY: �Meeting with School Board Members

ROLE PLAY: ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS

ROLE PLAY – Do it twice, once badly and once well.

Build rapport

Introduce yourself as a constituent and NCAE member of your affiliate as well as a parent, teacher, bus driver, cafeteria worker, office support staff, administrator, etc.;
Identify any personal connections you have for clubs or even the school where you work and;
Learn about them. (Do they have kids? Run a business? Coach youth sports? Regularly attend religious services? etc.)

Be Yourself, Honest and Available

Share stories about your experiences working in public schools
Talk about why education policy matters to you, your own family, and your students
Acknowledge when they say something you agree with and even when you don’t;

Be respectful yet firm

Approach legislators as you would want a concerned parent to approach their teacher
Avoid accusations, assumptions, or tone of voice that would put the legislator on the defensive
Thank them for their time; lay groundwork for a follow up

Stand firmly on your values

Identify core values you share with the legislator, and connect policy questions back to those values
Focus on how policies will impact students and staff

Ask a “count on me” question – and get an answer: CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO DO THIS?

We want to win some very specific things... and we're looking for responses.
Do you support increasing hourly wages for classified staff to $18.20 ($2.20 raise)? | Can employees have a choice of frequency of pay, ie once or twice a month?
SA - Do you support moving Safety Assistants to grade 20 on salary schedule? | Can you give a date that the lights will be installed on the lot at Rock Quarry?
Will you advocate and vote for the School Board to request the County to approve a school construction bond so the we can repair Hope Valley Elemenatary, Githens Middle School, and the Durham School of the Arts

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ROLE PLAY: �Meeting with School Board Members

Build rapport

Be yourself, honest and available

Be respectful, yet firm

Be a good listener, but it’s YOUR meeting

Stand firmly on your values
Ask an accountability question – and get an answer

ROLE PLAY: ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS

ROLE PLAY – Do it twice, once badly and once well.

Build rapport

Introduce yourself as a constituent and NCAE member of your affiliate as well as a parent, teacher, bus driver, cafeteria worker, office support staff, administrator, etc.;
Identify any personal connections you have for clubs or even the school where you work and;
Learn about them. (Do they have kids? Run a business? Coach youth sports? Regularly attend religious services? etc.)

Be Yourself, Honest and Available

Share stories about your experiences working in public schools
Talk about why education policy matters to you, your own family, and your students
Acknowledge when they say something you agree with and even when you don’t;

Be respectful yet firm

Approach legislators as you would want a concerned parent to approach their teacher
Avoid accusations, assumptions, or tone of voice that would put the legislator on the defensive
Thank them for their time; lay groundwork for a follow up

Stand firmly on your values

Identify core values you share with the legislator, and connect policy questions back to those values
Focus on how policies will impact students and staff

Ask a “count on me” question – and get an answer: CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO DO THIS?

We want to win some very specific things... and we're looking for responses.
Do you support increasing hourly wages for classified staff to $18.20 ($2.20 raise)? | Can employees have a choice of frequency of pay, ie once or twice a month?
SA - Do you support moving Safety Assistants to grade 20 on salary schedule? | Can you give a date that the lights will be installed on the lot at Rock Quarry?
Will you advocate and vote for the School Board to request the County to approve a school construction bond so the we can repair Hope Valley Elemenatary, Githens Middle School, and the Durham School of the Arts

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How to Meet with School Board Members

HAVE A PLAN

Set clear goals going into the meeting: know EXACTLY what you are asking for
Make an agenda and assign roles
Reach out to set up meetings at least 2 weeks in advance (sometimes more)

IDENTIFY YOUR TEAM

What stories do you want to be able to share in the meeting? Who can tell those?
Who will facilitate & lead the meeting? Who will be your time keeper?

PREPARE YOUR TEAM

Each participant should:

Understand the plan & big picture goals
Understand the role they are playing within the meeting

HOLD MEETING

Set clear time expectation: we’ve got one hour (for example)
Ask participants to arrive 15-20 minutes BEFORE the elected official

DEBRIEF & ADJUST

What commitments did the elected official make? What did they NOT commit to?
What did you learn about them? What motivates them? What do they care about?
Did you learn anything about OTHER elected officials from the one you met with?
Do you need to make any changes to your message, strategy or tactics?

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SAMPLE Agenda for Meetings with BOE Members

Agenda Item	PURPOSE of Agenda Item	Person	TIME
Welcome & Introductions	Build rapport		6:00pm
Funding Context for School District	Show what we know		6:12
What we LIKE about the District’s approach	Acknowledge what the district is doing well		6:20
Budget Priority #1: Meaningful raises for ESPs Personal impact story Clear & specific policy request Accountability question	Share story that show WHY our demands are important Define what we want Ask for support	IA? CNS? Custodian? _____? ______?	6:24
Budget Priority #2: School Construction Bond Personal impact story Clear & specific policy request Accountability question	Same as above	From affected building? Parent? ____?_	6:35
Budget Priority #3: Increase Supplement Personal impact story Clear & specific policy request Accountability question	Same as above	Veteran teacher _____? ______?	6:46
Follow up Plan / Next Steps	Make sure they know you are coming back	Christina?	6:56

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Practice: Writing Accountability Questions

Issue / Concern: ESP Compensation

Policy Goal: raise all staff to $18/hour and adjust salary steps to account for wage compression

Accountability question: _________________________

Issue / Concern: Certified Pay

Policy Goal: increase local supplement by $2000 for all staff and $3000 for staff on steps 15 and beyond

Accountability question: _________________________

Take 2 minutes to individually write an accountability question for one or both of the policy priorites below. Be ready to share out.

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Work Time: �Develop An Agenda for your Meeting

Decide which policy priorities you will focus on in your meeting.
Identify members that can share a good Personal Impact Story for each priority

EXAMPLE: Raises for classified staff – an ESP who is currently underpaid and can describe the importance of their work and the hardship they experience
EXAMPLE: Increase local certified supplement - a certified employee who can describe the impact of staff vacancies at their school and describe how their former colleagues left the school due to low pay. OR a former colleague who can personally describe why they left the classroom to make more money even though they loved the work.
EXAMPLE: School Repair / improved facilities - staff, students, or parents that can describe the impact of leaks, mold, very cold or very hot learning environments, etc. Bring pictures to the meeting to make this feel extra real for the elected official.

Set Timeline (work backwards):

By when does the meeting need to happen? By when do you need to invite the elected?
By when do you need to recruit and prepare your team?

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Resources & Next Steps

SET UP YOUR MEETINGS!

Not magic: emails, phone calls, text messages
Try the contact info from their candidate filing paperwork if they don’t reply from their official email. (See spreadsheet provided by NCAE.)

PREP YOUR PEOPLE!

Not magic: have an in person or zoom or phone call with the members you want in your meeting.
Make sure everyone knows what role you are asking them to play, has seen the full agenda, and feels comfortable

Send Calendar invitation for each meeting to:

The policy makers you are meeting with.
Your members that are participating.

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Local Strength Cohort: What’s On Tap