To help improve school public relations programs, this handbook covers communications with print and broadcast media. An overview briefly discusses education's relationship to the media. Chapter 1, on preparations for working with the media, advises making personal contact with media persons and suggests how to prepare, what information to get, and what not to say. Chapter 2 considers news releases and discusses what to write about, knowing what to include (who, what, where, when, why, and how), finding the right story angle and lead sentence, keeping the release readable, using the correct news release format, pretesting stories, and getting the release to the media. Chapter 3 recommends how to handle crises, including identifying spokespersons in advance, using a rumor control center, keeping school staff informed, and establishing a crisis team. Working with radio, television, and cable television is outlined in chapter 4, which covers public service announcements, planning for broadcast media, and program production for cable television. Chapter 5 lists evaluation criteria, and chapter 6 briefly summarizes the handbook. Five appendices provide samples of fact sheets, news sheets, and news releases as well as guidelines for radio usage. (RW)