The economic recession has had a profound effect on the ability of state and local governments to provide essential services to their communities--especially education. Stories about increased class sizes, personnel layoffs, and dwindling support for programs outside core classroom instruction have flooded newspapers around the country. Despite monumental investments in education by local, state, and federal sources, the public does not understand or recognize efforts to preserve as many education services as possible. As stewards of the public's financial investment in education it is the school business officer's responsibility to ensure the local community is aware of how school districts are expending resources, how and what circumstances of the school district are changing, and how it affects services. School business officials play a vital role in building public trust, engagement, and support for making the critical decisions that affect public education locally and nationally. How can school business officials engage and inform the public about the challenges school districts face? Further, how can they leverage public engagement to help the public rethink and reinvest in solutions that benefit the students in schools? The author presents and discusses a few strategies: (1) make data public and easily accessible; (2) relate the data to the audience; and (3) talk about priorities. The author suggests that by helping stakeholders better understand the complexity of school finance and by promoting transparency and accountability, school business officials can better ensure more effective use of education resources.