[Dixielandjazz] School District Lists - Prospecting 101

[Don Kirkman]

On Sat, 12 Mar 2005 00:20:00 -0800, Don Kirkman wrote:

An additional thought too late to get included in my first message.

>On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 20:11:56 -0500, Steve barbone wrote:

>>I don't have a gig tonight, so forgive my numerous posts. Following is Step
>>One in how to develop a prospect list for School Districts. The example is
>>for those bands in the Los Angeles Area, but works well anywhere in the US.

>[Sorry for the length; I found it hard to snip logically]

>>1) Google search for: Los Angeles County School Districts. (Do not
>>abbreviate to L.A. as LA is such a common word, Google hates it.)

>>2) First hit is LACOE. Open it.

>www.lacoe.edu/

>>3) Surf around the site until you figure out how to hit on the alphabetical
>>list of School Districts, and address for them

>>4) First S D on the list is ABC Unified. Open it. See address. You could
>>stop here and write to them, go to the next one etc. But surfing the site
>>will reveal that this S D has 19 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, 3
>>high schools and 1 college prep. A veritable gold mine.

>>I also suggest, for your own information and piece of mind, that you use the
>>search box on this S D site.

>>1) Surf around until you find the "SEARCH" box. Type In: Music Programs. You
>>will get 5 pages of information about music, music programs, music
>>appreciation, field trips, bands, foundations that help with money, talent
>>shows, spring musicals, and all sorts of assorted information about how much
>>this S D does to make the kids aware of music. (except hire your band)

>>2) This should convince those in Los Angeles that the schools do have money,
>>and that they will spend it on school music programs and that a certain
>>portion of that SHOULD BE IN YOUR POCKET since you are providing music and
>>art appreciation to the general population of kids. ;-) VBG

>Thanks for noticing, Steve.  However, let me point out that Cerritos,
>one of the larger cities in the ABC district, is relatively rich--not in
>the Beverly Hills class, but well above a typical Los Angeles area city.
>The point is, neither Cerritos nor the ABC district (encompassing
>several cities) can be used to prove that other local districts are
>equally well off.  And I suspect the LA *City* school district is poorer
>than most of the districts spread across the county, though it's
>probably relatively close in size and enrolment.

Factor into the equation the fact that California used to regularly rank
in the top five or ten states of per student funding for education, all
the way from K-12 to University level.  In the past few decades we've
dropped into the bottom five or so.  I could explain why in detail, but
won't; suffice it to say that some people no longer see the importance
of preparing the next generation to be responsible and productive
citizens, and others don't want to pay for anything that doesn't
directly enhance their own situation.  In those circumstances
"enrichment" courses like arts and music are the losers.
-- 
Don
donkirk at covad.net