ConnCAN, an active education reform group in Connecticut, will begin airing 30-second television advertisements today to push state lawmakers there to pass legislation that the group says is critical to making the state’s round-two application for Race to the Top money competitive. The ads will air across the state.
Here’s a peek at the ad, from ConnCAN’s website. Connecticut, which finished 25th out of 41 applicants in round one, has a lot of ground to make up if it hopes to snag the $175 million prize it is eligible for.
As far as I know, this is the first Race to the Top television ad to be produced anywhere. Anyone know of other campaign-like efforts to push states to act (or not act) for round two?
UPDATE: There is in fact another television ad campaign to get state lawmakers to act on bills related to Race to the Top—in New York. It was produced by Education Reform Now, which has Joe Williams, the executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, on its board of directors. Here’s a link to that ad.
Karen Rutzick, the communications director for ConnCAN, tells me that their ad cost just under $50,000 to produce and air on four network and several cable outlets over the next two weeks. The ads were actually sponsored by ConnCAN’s sister organization that is freer to lobby and engage in political activity, called the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Advocacy, or ConnAD.
