| Community and Media Relations |
6/7/04 6:04 AM |
Author:
David Harris
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Transparency is key in developing a positive relationship with the media and broader community. And such openness cannot just be in theory — it must be in practice, and it must be proactive. In Indianapolis, we've established an open, public process from the beginning. The media and larger community are invited to participate in all stages of our application process — in Indianapolis, no charter is awarded until a school goes through three televised public hearings, one of which invites public comment on the applications under consideration. And application materials are made widely available to the public through the Mayor's charter schools website as well as in public libraries.
After a school is chartered, we continue to provide the public with access to all of the information we have about the schools and how they are performing. The first annual Accountability Report was available on-line and was also distributed to members of the media and the public. The Mayor held a press conference to announce the release of the report, and Mayor's office staff participated in radio and television interviews to discuss the report. And such public accountability benefits schools: if a school knows that information about its performance will be made public, the school has tremendous incentive to perform well. Public accountability provides for meaningful accountability by resulting in improvements without interference in a school's autonomy.
Posted as a reply to:
Community & Media Relations by Bob Montgomery 
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