SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS: THE AUDIENCE. PRIVATE BUSINESSES: THE CUSTOMERS?

[Shadowninja]

Dearest reader,

Lady B has been examining the business surrounding Michigan's public education system.

And today, the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) provided a rather revealing receipt.

MASB is advertising its October 2026 Annual Leadership Conference to businesses interested in reaching Michigan school board members, superintendents, and education leaders.

The sales pitch?

**720+ attendees. 270+ school districts represented.**

And opportunities to meet district decision-makers and generate qualified sales leads.

Yes, dear reader. Sales leads.

Now, let's examine the price of admission.

• Exhibit booth: $2,000

• Two exhibit booths: $3,000

• General session sponsorship: $3,000

• Networking event sponsorship: $3,500

• Conference lanyard sponsorship: $5,500

• Conference bag sponsorship: $5,500

And exhibitors must participate at the Supporting Sponsor level or higher.

But here's where Lady B's ledger becomes particularly interesting.

MASB's own website features testimonials from three businesses:

**Thrun Law Firm.**

**TMP Architecture.**

**SSOE Group.**

Recognize those first two names?

They are among the companies Lady B has already been examining in the business ecosystem surrounding Michigan public schools.

Consider how this works.

School board members and administrators attend conferences for professional development.

Businesses pay for opportunities to meet those same officials, promote their services, and develop relationships.

The association receives sponsorship and exhibitor revenue.

The businesses gain access to potential customers.

And those potential customers make decisions involving public school dollars.

Lady B has no objection to businesses earning a profit. Nor is there anything inherently improper about a professional conference having sponsors.

**But public education is not supposed to exist as a customer acquisition program for private businesses.**

So here's Lady B's question:

When the organizations responsible for educating school decision-makers also sell businesses access to those decision-makers, who is ensuring that educational guidance and purchasing decisions remain independent of commercial interests?

Perhaps the most interesting part of this particular rabbit hole is that nobody had to uncover a secret document.

**MASB advertises the arrangement on its own website.**

With receipts and respect,
Lady Budgetdown 🪶

#LadyBudgetdown #MichiganEducation #SchoolBoardTransparency #TaxpayerAccountability #FollowTheMoney #PublicEducation