Giving and Taking
Head for the Edge, Oct 1996
In light of the current political climate about taxes, those of us in public education should revisit David Lewis’s “Eight Truths”1 about budgeting. His first Truth is just as applicable now as it was when published five years ago: “It is a zero sum game.” When talking about public library budgets, he explained: “There is no more money…The important truth is that those who provide the cash…will not give the library any more. They can’t because they don’t have it.” Schools, as well, seem to have reached a level of funding that the public is unlikely to substantially increase. Does this mean no additional funds for your media or technology program?
Not necessarily. Mr. Lewis suggests a way that middle managers (like media specialists and technology coordinators) can get more money for their programs: “You can take it away from somebody else. If you believe in what you are doing, you have an obligation to try this.” Gulp.
I think this puts an awful lot of us outside our comfort zone. Aren’t we really “givers” of resources, skills, information, time, effort? Fighting for an adequate budget, especially if it means butting heads with co-workers like department chairs, band directors, coaches, custodians, or union reps, certainly feels like being a “taker.” Want to make an enemy? Threaten the funding of a program that is owned by another educator.
But look carefully at the second part of Mr. Lewis’s statement - “If you believe in what you are doing, you have an obligation to try…” Folks, we better all believe deep in our hearts what we are doing is in the very best interest of our students and community, that spending what is necessary for an effective media and technology program is better than buying new textbooks or violins or smaller class sizes.
So here’s the deal. You really need two psychological weapons when fighting to make your program a budget priority: a thick skin and a deep-felt mission. Without them, you’ll get eaten alive; with them, you can accomplish anything.
Strong feelings and fearlessness are of course greatly helped by a strong rationale for your budget. Today’s budgeting committees really need to be asking questions like:
As media specialists and technology coordinators, we need to do our homework. Our budgets must be specific, goal driven, and assessable. They must be both accurate and easy to understand. (Learn how to use a spreadsheet - you’ll never regret it.) And I hope our budgets are supported by research and sound reasoning. It’s up to us to let other educators know what the Colorado study found out about the impact of libraries on student achievement, about Krashen’s research on how to improve reading scores, and why ACOT’s findings about the impact computer technology has on teaching and learning are important.
One powerful way to convince others you should be given additional funding is to remind them how successful you have been with your past budgets. Remind them about how many people your program serves and how much of the curriculum depends on it. Get others on the staff to support your budget or items in your budget.
Don’t just deal in numbers either. Let folks know how individuals, both teacher and student, have been helped by your program. The one common denominator that all effective salespeople have is the ability to tell a good story - to personalize the facts. Hey, and who can tell stories better than we can? “You should have seen the kids lined up before school opened to get into the media center to use the new computers. You all know how Johnny Smith never gets excited about anything in school. If you’d have seen him find the NASA website, you wouldn’t have recognized him.”
Finally a last quote from Mr. Lewis, something to think about when you have a few quiet moments: “It is unacceptable for others in your organization to misuse resources that could be better put to use by you.” Thanks, Mr. Lewis, for helping us see that we need to learn to be effective “takers” if we want to be good “givers.”
1. Lewis, David W. (1991, September 1). Eight Truths for Middle Managers in Lean Times. Library Journal, 116 (14). 157-8.