PR

A “Chicken Little” Political Resistance 

Eduflack accountability, Marketing, Media, PR, reform

The Resistance is based on a negative frame, standing up against all that it sees as wrong and immoral. But it does so without putting forward a positive vision or an alternate plan. And it does so by insulting those individuals who voted the other way, attacking the very intelligence and morality of the average red voter. The Resistance is a protest movement. It makes no bones about that. But If those issues it pounds away on don’t come to fruition, it appears as much ado about nothing to those not in the protest. It is merely a group of true believers providing comfort to other true believers.

From Eduflack’s latest US News & World Report commentary, The Sky Isn’t Falling

Chasing Social Media Squirrels 

Eduflack Media, PR, reform, Social media, TrumpED

The public can attack President Trump for Twitter behavior that is beneath the office, but it shouldn’t ignore that while we let an entire media cycle get dominated by a Tweet about a morning show host on a cable network, the Trump Administration put into place new regulations regarding the profiles of people who can enter the United States from certain countries and what they are allowed to bring with them when they enter our borders. And we might want to question what really deserves our limited, ADHD attentions.

From Eduflack’s latest on President Trump and the public responses to his social media activities 

Celebrating West Virginia’s Country Roads

Eduflack civics, Media, PR

On this day in 1863, the great state of West Virginia was formally admitted into the Union. While Eduflack may consider himself a Jersey boy, it is hard to forget that I am also a proud graduate of West Virginia public schools (Jefferson County Consolidated High School in Shenandoah Junction, West Virginia, to be exact).

And while I left “By God” West Virginia for college, going across state lines to attend Mr. Jefferson’s University of Virginia, I went on to serve my adopted home of West Virginia. For years, I served as an aide to Senator Robert C. Byrd, a tremendous leader who shaped me in many ways. From the history of the Senate to the intricacies of the appropriations process to a thorough respect for the voters, Senator Byrd taught me the foundations that my professional life is built on today. He also inspired me to be the writer that I am today (spurred when he asked me to write him an hour-long speech linking the rhetoric of Aristotle and ancient Greece with the celebration of July 4th).

But I started my career in public service as a staffer to U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the then “junior” senator from the Mountain State. Twenty five years ago this summer, to be exact. It was as an intern for Senator Rockefeller that I penned my first congressional floor statement, a statement that Rockefeller read on the Senate floor on June 19, 1992 to commemorate West Virginia’s 129th birthday. It seems appropriate to share that statement today, delivered far better by Senator Rockefeller than Eduflack’s still developing writing deserved.

Mr. President, today I rise to speak to you in honor of the people of the great State of West Virginia in recognition of our State’s 129th birthday.
On the 20th of June in 1863, the State of West Virginia was born.  The product of a crisis between the States, West Virginia earned its place as the 35th State to join the Union, through incredible bravery and initiative.
This spirit of initiative has remained with our fair State since its inception.  The proud people of West Virginia have consistently served this country through the good times and the bad.  We have fought valiantly for our country, we have provided for our families through hardship and prosperity, and we have worked to establish the greatest community, State, and country that we possibly could.
Mountaineer pride is evident still today, throughout the State.  This pride has attracted hundreds of thousands of vacationers to our fair State.  They have fallen in love with our majestic mountains ideal for skiing, our racing white water rivers, and our beautiful national parks.  One only needs to open any local West Virginia newspaper to see the numerous letters written from vacationers commending the State on both its attractions and its people.
THis feeling has led many people to continue to visit the Mountain State and has brought many more to relocate permanently in our fair State for good.  Thanks to the hospitality and kindness of West Virginia’s native residents, our Mountain State quickly becomes home for her new citizens, and remains a place where pride and hard work thrive.
So, on this, the 129th birthday of our State, I ask you, Mr. President, and my other colleagues, to join me in recognizing this important day for West Virginia, and for all her citizens who have made West Virginia a State that I am proud to represent and call home.

The Consequences of Free Speech

Eduflack accountability, Media, PR, reform

“While it isn’t difficult to understand the calls to support that which we believe strongly and attack that from which we recoil, recent activities surrounding the Public Theater and Megyn Kelly teach us one important lesson – free speech does not mean speech free of consequence.”

From Eduflack’s latest essay, “Sorry Social Media Mob, But Free Speech Is Not Free of Consequence,” at LinkedIn Pulse 

A Textbook Case of Bad Crisis PR

Eduflack Media, PR

Before Eduflack focused his attentions completely on education policy and school improvement, I used to spend my days in crisis communications. I counseled Fortune 500 companies, national non-profits, and name-brand politicians on how to navigate potentially crippling PR issues that they did, or that were done to them. And I was pretty good at it.

So in watching the Kathy Griffin PR fiasco unfold this week, I was aghast with how poorly she was advised (or how poorly she did what she was advised to do). Over at LinkedIn Pulse, dear ol’ Eduflack offers some analysis of how Griffin went wrong, and what she should have done.

The big takeways? Take responsibility for one’s actions. Don’t look to blame other people, Don’t make it a racial issue when you are a privileged white person. Don’t make it a gender issue when it has nothing to do with gender politics. And don’t forget to say you are sorry while promising to do better.

Give it a read. Remember the advice. Hopefully, you’ll never need it.

Some PR Advice for the EdSec

Eduflack AFT, DeVos, PR, reform

It’s been four months since the start of the Trump Administration. Three months since EdSec Betsy DeVos’ confirmation hearing. Yet most are still waiting for DeVos to take control of the ED bully pulpit like her predecessors did. And waiting. And waiting.

Over at the Fordham Institute’s Flypaper blog, Michael Petrilli offers some advice from PR pros on how DeVos could, or should, up her comms game. There are some valuable thoughts there. Then there are some insights offered by yours truly. You may be right, Eduflack may be cray-cray. But I do think it would be a master stroke to have DeVos ask Randi Weingarten if she can address the full AFT at its summer gathering. 

Give the full article a read. You won’t be disappointed.

Just Say No to Political Pottymouths

Eduflack PR, Presidential campaign, reform, Students

If you haven’t noticed yet (and it is near impossible not to notice), the 2016 elections have led us into a 2017 political discourse where the name of the game is vulgarity. The language that was once used in political backrooms is now being used front and center in public meetings, speeches, and in social media. Things most people wouldn’t say to their mothers are now being said before cheering crowds of thousands.

Over on Medium, I look at the rise of cuss words as substitute for political voice. As with any name calling, it fills the space because we simply can’t think of anything substantive to put in its place.

As dear ol’ Eduflack writes: “it is fascinating that a generation of parents who regularly preach to their kids, ‘use your words,’ to express their frustrations now throw in the towel when it comes to doing the same themselves.”

Give the full piece a read. You won’t f*%!in’ believe it!

Did Lego Just Diss #Teachers With its NASA Series?

Eduflack Parents, PR, teachers

As many have seen, earlier this month Lego announced a new series of its popular toys, this time honoring the Women of NASA. It’s an important collection, and a well deserved homage to the women behind the success of the space program. But it spotlighting five women, and not including Christa McAuliffe, did Lego show real disrespect for classroom teachers?

This is the question I explore this week for Hechinger Report, noting:

“McAuliffe was an educator who would do anything and everything to bring the joys of learning to her own students and her own classrooms. Following her own dreams, she showed a generation of students what was possible. And she likely inspired a generation of learners – both male and female – to follow their passions and to be inspired by both the good and the bad their experienced.

She is just as important to the storyline of NASA as Ride, Margaret Hamilton, and Mae Jemison. Some may say even more so, as McAuliffe’s role reinvigorated a generation that had grown complacent, just as it had at the time of Apollo 13.”

Give the full piece at Hechinger a read. Let me know what you think. McAuliffe and the Challenger disaster was an key moment in Eduflack’s childhood. It shouldn’t be glossed over just because it is a difficult topic to discuss with kids.

Happy Happy!

Eduflack BAM, Media, PR, reform, Social media, TrumpED

On this day in history. Seventy years ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established. Twenty-three years ago, Justin Bieber was hatched, err was born. Twenty two years ago, Yahoo was incorporated. And 10 years ago today, Eduflack was launched.

It’s hard to believe that it has been a decade. In that time, we have had well over a million page visits to this site. We have experienced three different presidents and four different EdSecs. We went from the height of NCLB to the rejection of NCLB to the passage of ESSA to now the start of the rejection of key ESSA provisions. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

When I launched Eduflack in 2007, I did so because I found the writing cathartic. I didn’t expect folks would actually want to read it (no, I’m not being self deprecating). I certainly didn’t expect major news outlets would quote posts (particularly when I hypothesized on potential EdSec candidates in 2008).

This site has evolved over the last decade, but I still try to keep it at that intersection of education communications, policy, politics, and research. Sometimes we lean more one way than the other. But with each post, we try to stay true to our roots.

This blog has led to the establishment and curation of a top education policy Twitter feed, @Eduflack (believe it or not, Twitter wasn’t even a thing when the blog was established). It has led to a regular podcast for BAM! Radio Network, with the current focus on education policy under President Trump (#TrumpED). And it has resulted in essays and commentaries bearing the Eduflack name in Education Week, US News & World Report, and many, many others.

It has even led to an upcoming book, currently late to my publisher, on the need to reform education reform.

And while I hate the term, it has also resulted in an Eduflack “brand,” which hopefully stands for something that is seen as contributing to a meaningful discussion, and not just adding to all of the meaningless white noise in public education.

Big thanks to all of those who read this blog, who encourage me to continue to do this blog, and to those who run into me at conferences and events and simply know me as Eduflack (granted, Riccards can often be too difficult for some to pronounce.)

Thank you all! And happy birthday Eduflack, truly my middle child.

 

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A Million Thanks!

Eduflack Media, PR

Nine and a half years ago, I started Eduflack as cathartic tool. I was looking for an outlet to express my thoughts, I wanted to write more, and the idea of education blogging was just taking off. I wrote my first post in March 2007. It was before I joined Facebook. It was before I signed up for Twitter (even though I thought it was an incredibly silly platform at the time, after all, who wanted to blog in fewer than 140 characters). It was even before my daughter was born. 

So it is with extreme gratitude that I want to thank everyone who has read and shared this blog. As of this week,  there have been 1 million visitors to Eduflack. What I once thought no one would ever read has attracted enough eyeballs to win an election in a questionable country. 

I’m truly humbled by the continued readership and interest. I recognize I font wrote nearly as frequently as I once did, and that my @Eduflwck Twitter feed gets far more attention these days. But I am grateful for every single reader and will work harder to share thoughtful, thought provoking posts in the future. 

A million thanks to you!