Show Notes: 

Watch ICCSD’s “Game On” Video. 

Read Schoolhouse Burning by Derek W. Black, a keynote speaker at this year’s SchoolCEO Conference. Get your tickets now!

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Episode Transcript:

In 2024, Iowa adopted a new school voucher system which sent many of the state’s districts into a school marketing frenzy. But Kristin Pedersen, executive director of Community Relations at Iowa City Community School District, noticed something about everybody else’s campaigns: they were afraid to address the elephant in the room. They were afraid to actually say the word “voucher”. So Kristin decided to do the opposite. 

Welcome to the SchoolCEO Podcast. I’m your host, Eileen Beard. In recent episodes, we have been discussing the “threat” school choice poses to schools and school comms in the context of a SWOT analysis. Here at SchoolCEO, we often say the key to rising above a crowded field in an era of school choice is by building your brand. And that is still 100% true. But for the most part, districts don’t address legislation or school choice or even competition in their marketing—they simply focus on what they’re doing right. 

ICCSD was already doing a great job promoting their brand. Then one day, Kristin was tipped off that an Iowa City newspaper would soon feature an insert with local school recommendations for families. And that it wouldn’t include a single public school on the list. So Kristin and her team hurried to respond with a video that addressed the so-called voucher “elephant” from the opening frame. 

“School Choice?” the video title asks. “Game on.” “Iowa City Community School District?” It asks. “The best.” What follows is a series of joyful and inspiring images—from a girl swinging on a playground to students entering a robotics competition, from drama students performing in a school play to football players rushing through a game day banner…all backed by rousing string music that builds to a game day-esque crescendo. 

Between images, more fiery phrases fill a black screen. With them, Iowa City positions itself as the best district for academics, career preparation, student organizations, AP offerings and athletics, just to name a few. Finally, it proclaims “The best is tuition-free.” “The best is time-honored.” “The best is for everybody.”

Those final statements get to the heart of what makes public education so special. It is free for everyone. It is inclusive. And it is a historic institution—intertwined with the very founding of our democracy. A public education is something to be proud of, not embarrassed about. 

And the thing is, public schools are subject to rigorous standards that private institutions generally are not. They have curriculum standards and standard testing requirements. They have to report results and are therefore held accountable for their performance. Public school teachers have certification requirements that private school teachers don’t. Public schools are required to provide special education and be ADA compliant. The list goes on and on. 

ICCSD, it would seem, is competitive in many ways—it was a race to the finish but Kristin and her team actually put the “Game On” video together so quickly, they were able to launch it on the same day the newspaper insert was published, making it a co-headline rather than a response to the insert. 

ICCSD’s “Game On” campaign begs the question: When families in your region are comparing school choices, do they even know you’re in the running? Not if they don’t know how well you stack up against the competition.

So what can we learn from ICCSD? And what might it look like for you to face school choice head on?

• First, acknowledge school choice. A lot of districts have avoided it so far. If families aren’t already considering another school, why would you remind them they have other options? Because not acknowledging it may be announcing to the world that you’re afraid you can’t compete.
• Second, do what you do so well. Educate. Remind families of the rich tradition of public schooling in this country. (For a great refresher, I highly recommend reading Schoolhouse Burning by Derek W. Black, a keynote speaker at this year’s SchoolCEO Conference! Link in the notes.) Remind them you have the most qualified teachers. Remind them you have the most rigorous academic standards. Remind them absolutely everybody is welcome in your hallways. And yeah, remind them you are free. After all, vouchers and tax credits usually don’t cover the full cost of tuition at private schools. Families who choose private will likely still be paying some of it out-of-pocket. 
• Push back when local media or politicians or other schools count you out. This doesn’t have to mean getting into an online skirmish with your opponent. It just means that for every negative message you hear on a megaphone, put out your own positive one. 
• Last, use dynamic storytelling to position yourself as the best K-12 option in your region. In marketing, video consistently outperforms static images in terms of engagement and overall effectiveness. And not only does ICCSD’s “Game On” video show frame after frame of students thriving, it uses rousing music to its advantage. After all, what would a football game feel like without a marching band to pump up the crowd? 

If you’d like to check out ICCSD’s “Game On” video, click the link in the show notes. Now let’s go out there and win this. 

Thanks for joining me.