The purposes of this study were (1) to analyze the perceptions of identified community leaders concerning the power dynamics involved in referendums to increase the amount of operational tax funds through levy campaigns which were accepted or rejected in selected Ohio public school districts, and (2) to develop a conceptual role model for Ohio public school superintendents in these campaigns.After the review of related literature on community power, an interview guide was developed for the sample population which included six Ohio public school districts. The selected respondents were the superintendent and one official from each of the organizational areas of the news media, banking and finance, chamber of commerce and women. The six systems included the three Ohio school district types consisting of the city, exempted village and local. There were two school districts in each category which included a passing levy and a failing levy.The researcher formulated three hypotheses to analyze the field research. The following results were noted:1. Little support was found for hypothesis 1:A relationship exists between the active membership of the superintendent in community organizations and a successful operational levy.2. A positive relationship was evident inhypothesis 2: A relationship exists between the functional task-assignments of influential community citizens in the operational levy campaign and passaqe of an operational levy.3. Little support was found for hypothesis 3: The predictions of community influentials in an operational levy and the actual outcome of the operational levy are significantly related.Major findings were the need factor and citizen involvement. The selected population in passing and failing levies perceived that awareness of need was the significant reason for the outcome of the operational levy. Active participation of key community citizens was evident in passing levies while little active participation of influential citizens took place in failing levy campaigns.Other findings were in the areas of community relations, role of the superintendent and prior consultations. It was revealed that school-community relations may help, but not insure passage of a levy. School districts with failing levies received slightly higher public ratings than did theschool systems with passing levies.The superintendents in the passing levies remained in the background with organizational responsibilities. On the other hand, two of three superintendents with failing levies took leading promotional positions while the third had little or no involvement of any kind.A role of the superintendent was primarily viewed with the presentation of the need for additional revenue and secondly mentioned with the dissemination of information. The superintendent was designated by the sample population as the creator of the operational levy campaign.Selected citizens by a ratio of three to one agreed that prior consultation with influentials would help the passage of an operational levy. The selected superintendents were evenly divided on the issue.A conceptual role model of the superintendent in an operational levy campaign was presented with documentation from the related literature and field research. The major models were community behavior, community structure and community dynamics. The model role of the superintendent initially began with his perception of relationships in community dynamics.The citizen involvement model is the major concept affecting the outcome of an operational levy. The superintendent through his knowledge of the school and the community begins this involvement through a created plan of campaign strategy. The participation of citizens plus a role of the superintendent and community dynamics are the major forces which determine the outcome of a levy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181261 |
| Date | January 1969 |
| Creators | Stuckman, Ralph Edward |
| Contributors | Swafford, George E. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 152 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-oh |
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