Selling School: The Marketing of Public Education

This timely book outlines the growth and development of marketing and branding practices in public education. The authors highlight why these practices have become important across key fields within public education, including leadership and governance, budgeting and finance, strategic initiatives, use of new technology, the role of teachers in marketing, and messaging. From an organizational perspective, they explore the implications of edvertising on the democratic mission of public education, especially as related to issues of equity and access for students who have been historically underserved. The authors argue that expansive marketing campaigns, unequal funding sources, and lack of regulation are quickly and profoundly reshaping public education without the benefit of robust research or public debate. Selling School is important reading for principals navigating increasingly marketized school systems, for policymakers constructing legislation, and for parents negotiating school choice.

Book Features:

• Explores the ethical tensions that emerge as a result of branding and marketing practices, specifically the application of business/private sector strategies to public education.
• Coins a new term, edvertising, that captures the breadth of marketing and branding practices within public education
• Includes a comprehensive review of the relevant literature (both business and educational) on marketing and branding.
• Highlights the actual cost of edvertising in terms of personnel and educator time.
• Calls for an increase in oversight of these new marketing practices across sectors in public education.
• Provides practical information for educators trying to understand what it means to work in highly marketized environments.
• Provides insight for parents who are trying to sift through school advertising.