Some Educators Need A Little Tutoring In Public Relations

When Mayor Bill de Blasio came to Canarsie a couple of months ago, his visit was almost a secret. Obviously, it wasn’t too small of a secret because the article in the NY Daily News expressed that the Mayor and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña gathered at the “struggling” Brooklyn Generation School at South Shore for a highly attended meeting. While the Canarsie Courier was unable to attend, it seems that planning a meeting this big should have involved more community outreach – or maybe they didn't want too many people knowing far in advance that Hizzoner would be right here in our community?

Time to tell our educators why there's only bad news published in the media!

I recently made a presentation at a Community Education Council (CEC) meeting where I expressed, as the Associate Editor of the Canarsie Courier, my dismay at the fact that there's LOTS going on in our schools and no one is telling us anything.

Did you know that actor Edward Norton came to an East Flatbush high school to work with students on various art projects? I'd found out – once again through another media outlet – and asked why? More importantly, how difficult is it - REALLY - to put in a call to your local newspaper and spread the word that someone famous is coming to your building?

In addition to the red tape that exists throughout the Department of Education (DOE) when it comes to disseminating information, many schools just don't have the staff or administrators who are willing to make that call a couple of days in advance to let the media know what's going on.

During my presentation to the CEC, I made the last issue of the Canarsie Courier available, along with my business card. I encouraged board members and educators in the audience to keep their community newspaper in mind when things happen in their school. It doesn't have to be a big event – it could be something as simple as a student of the month or principal for a day celebration.

For a long time, schools have had to go through the DOE for permission to submit events to media outlets. I can understand that when it comes to answering a difficult legal question that requires a lot more than one phone call. But how about the GOOD things happening in our schools that make brief headlines or no headlines at all?

At the root of the problem, it seems like there aren't any administrators playing the role of ‘public relations’ or ‘communications’ at our local schools.

Yes, we're grateful that the same five schools have amazing Parent Association representatives who will call our office and tell us when something is happening. We're grateful for the principals who are willing to talk to us and share the success of their schools without having paperwork signed and being interrogated by the DOE, which would take an eternity to process.

However, when one of our writers goes down the list of schools in our district and makes over a dozen phone calls in an hour to ask what events they have coming up in the next couple of weeks, we get barely ANY call backs and we're given names of school officials or representatives who never keep us in the loop. Hey, where does our phone number go after a message is taken?

We DO circulate outside of Canarsie and cover many schools in our neighboring District 22 as well. There are a small number of schools in that community who actually reach out to us to let us know when things are going on. Sometimes when we learn about their going-ons through other outlets, getting through to those schools is literally like pulling teeth.

Let's get real! Public schools are already overwhelmed with testing, programming and dealing with the Common Core debacle. Plus, we hear PLENTY of bad news about kids in gangs and schools closing or teachers being arrested for involvement with their students. The least our schools can do is promote the GOOD and POSITIVE things they have going on – to prove to our community and the city that there are GOOD kids out there who will succeed and not wind up dead in an alleyway or in front of a judge for being in possession of a firearm.

Thankfully, we haven't had too many negative stories in the spotlight on what's going on in our schools. But when it comes to letting your local newspaper know what's going on, we sometimes think it would be easier getting in touch with President Obama than getting an answer about when a school's next dance showcase takes place!

Sometimes I ask what's the worse of two evils – calling a school and never getting a call back when we DID reach out, or simply not being informed at all and finding out through other media that something big happened?

While I understand the purpose of the CEC meetings is for information to be dispersed to our community and for members to be liaisons for schools across the district, we'd like to obtain news about what's going on without having to wait for the board's next meeting. By that time, the event's already happened - we missed out on a photo opportunity and possibly a chance to improve the way the residents view youths in the community.

Did you ever hear residents talking at civic meetings? All they say is that our children need “places to go” and positive things to do...There “aren't enough things in our school to keep them out of trouble.” If you ask me, all a school really needs to do is publicize the fact that their kids DO have programs and events that will keep them out of trouble! It might not convince everyone that the troublemakers aren't out there, but it will promote and confirm the fact that schools are accomplishing a lot in hopes of turning their students into leaders of the future.

As President of the CEC James Dandridge said at the end of my presentation, “The Canarsie Courier is hoping to put school administrators to the ‘test’ and put a ‘fire’ under them so that they realize how critical it is to spread their news to the paper.” Whether my speech worked or not is to be determined.

Big kudos to the administration and principals from schools who already keep us in the loop – it’s thanks to you that we’re able to tell the community about all the great things happening in your building!

For those who are behind the times and don’t check if the Canarsie Courier has called you for an update, it would be nice if your administration took the initiative and time (time that we’re willing to take to cover your events) to reach out to us. You can make all kinds of excuses as to why our kids are failing – but some schools get an ‘F’ when it comes to public relations.