Media

School officials whose names are in the Rolodexes of local reporters had better bone up on how President Clinton's plan to reduce class sizes would affect their districts, advises Douglas Stone, the director of communications at the California Department of Education.

National initiatives often spark local media coverage, Mr. Stone said, and too often school leaders are unprepared for queries from the press.

"The districts that have been more prepared, with a game plan and having a relationship with the media, stand to do better than those that...