Public Policy
Community members, legislators, lawmakers, and more use SparkMap’s Community Needs Assessment and Map Room to build and promote data-informed public policy.
Public Policy with SparkMap’s Community Needs Assessment
Education funding in my state is unequally distributed across schools and school districts. As a member of a local school board, I wanted to show fellow members and administrators how funding at our school compared to those around us. Using SparkMap’s Community Needs Assessment, I pulled together a targeted report showing average public school revenue, expenditures, and funding adequacy for five districts in our area. The SparkMap Community Needs Assessment report made it easy to see differences and similarities between districts and counties quickly. Our school board used these data to lobby the district board and our state representative for increased per pupil spending in our district.
— Leesa, School Board Member, Pro Subscriber
Public Policy with SparkMap’s Map Room
I used SparkMap’s Map Room to support a policy that prohibits smoking in public recreation areas in my county. As a member of a local health coalition, it was alarming to see and smell cigarettes and vapes in our local parks. In addition to my first-hand experiences, I was able to identify census tracts in my community where smoking rates and cigarette expenditures were considered high using data readily available in the SparkMap Map Room. I overlayed parks and used the drawing tools in the Map Room to call out areas of concern. Working with members of my coalition, a policy was drafted and proposed to our county commission prohibiting smoking and vaping in public recreation areas. The maps from SparkMap made it easier to get the whole county on board with the new policy.
–Erin, Health Coalition Member, Free Subscriber