Fighting Scare Tactics

If you ask for funding, people will say you’re taking away funding from other groups that need it more. You’re probably not, but you need to prepare a defense to this question.

[Explain where budget inflows/outflows come from, compare budget to expenditures, share this information proactively]

If there’s a petition to fire a school board member or a superintendent who might normally be on your side, it becomes incredibly difficult to make change. Luckily, these petitions are usually done by a vocal minority: they don’t actually represent the views of the whole town, but they are loud.

We recommend creating a “Common Sense Enthusiasts for Education” organization. We’re testing one at Princeton this Fall. The idea is simple: you reach out to the entire town with your values, policy leans, and most importantly, the hot-topic issues you promise to stay out of. You commit to only speaking out about common sense topics. You hold meetings and build trust. You use the leverage of the size of this organization to put weight behind important, non-controversial issues, and you use your credibility to dispel misinformation.