School Board News Today, an online publication of NSBA, provides timely and relevant stories and analysis from NSBA and other news outlets to school board members, administrators, and all others interested in K-12 education.
Approximately 150 students, parents, teachers, non-profit leaders, advocates, and policymakers attended the conference and discussed ways they can work together to make our schools and communities safe for all students.
“School board leaders and school officials are committed to safe educational environments for all students,” said Rickman. “With the right guidance and resources school leaders can meet the challenge of ensuring schools are a safe place for all students, free of bullying and harassment.”
As announced at yesterday’s conference, NSBA will launch a series of student conversations between school board members and students in middle and high school about the climate in their schools. The sessions will be guided by questions from the research-based school climate surveys developed by NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) and by the Pearson Foundation’s Million Voices project.
“As school boards across the country develop policies and initiatives to combat bullying, it is important they hear from students about the current realities they face in their schools,” said Rickman.
President Barack Obama was at TechBoston Academy in Boston yesterday and warned that cutting funds for education is irresponsible and harmful to our nation’s long-term economy noting, “There’s nothing responsible about cutting back on our investment in these young people.”
The event, produced in partnership with the National School Boards Association, National Middle School Association, and the American Association of School Administrators, calls for middle school students across the country to participate in a pre-choreographed “Let’s Move!” dance exercise routine at an identical time — Tuesday, May 3, at 1:42 p.m. Eastern Time.
Beyoncé will be the exclusive featured performer for the “Let’s Move! Flash Workout.” She has re-written and re-recorded one of her songs and is providing an instruction video demonstrating the dance/exercise routine. The Beyoncé video will then be distributed to participating schools.
BoardBuzz commends the “Let’s Move” initiative and this workout event to combat widespread childhood obesity.
The U.S. Senate Budget Committee held a hearing today and received testimony from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about the President’s FY 2012 education budget.
View the video below of committee chairman, Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), opening remarks and questions for Duncan.
BoardBuzz believes in these extremely challenging economic times, we can’t lose sight of the federal government’s responsibility to support and fund the efforts of local school districts to achieve the necessary reforms and innovations to advance public education. Additionally, as school districts are struggling to maintain key programs, Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in particular, larger funding increases are necessary to prevent school districts from cutting other important programs to meet these federal mandates.
Leaders from the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and state school boards associations are participating in the Conference on Labor-Management Collaboration, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, taking place in Denver today and tomorrow. At this first-of-its-kind conference, national and local school leaders will hear from other superintendents, school boards, and teacher union leaders who are working together to redefine the labor-management relationship in their communities.
Earl C. Rickman III, President of NSBA, and Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director of NSBA, will represent NSBA at this conference. Rickman also represents Michigan’s Mount Clemens Community School District Board of Education, which he serves as board president. Mount Clemens is one of the 150 school districts from across the country participating in the conference.
Bryant will be part of the session tomorrow on “Leading a Movement to Advance Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration” which will be featured below live from 2:15 3:15 PM EST.
February 15 4 4:30 pm EST
Welcome, Framing, and Overview Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
February 15 4:30 5:30 pm EST
The Principles in Action: Structuring Labor-Management Collaboration for Student Success The plenary will feature the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, the president of the Hillsborough (Florida) Classroom Teachers Association and the president of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education.
February 16 11:30 am 12:30 pm EST The Difference You Can Make: The Positive Impact of Reform From the Perspective of Students, Parents, Teachers and Principals The plenary will feature participants from Denver and Douglas County (Colorado) Public Schools.
February 16 2:15 3:15 PM EST Leading a Movement to Advance Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration
Participants:
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director, National School Boards Association
Michael Casserly, Executive Director, Council of the Great City Schools
George H. Cohen, Director, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators
Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education Association
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
Note: Video will only appear during the time of the live sessions.
We hear a lot about the importance of using data to make smart decisions in education reform. But how do you make sure you’re asking the right questions? And how do you take the information you receive and use it to make effective and efficient changes in your school district?
There are a number of sessions at the 2011 NSBA Annual Conference that will focus on data-driven reforms — from the intensive overview provided in the New Board Member Workshop, “Data-Driven Decision Making”, to more focused topics such as “Using a Data-Driven Model to Successfully Pass a General Fund Referendum”, and “A Comprehensive Analytical Data Directed Approach to Raising Student Achievement and Teacher Quality”, to name just a few.
Take a look at this video of a new board member, sharing her thoughts on what she learned at last year’s conference:
President and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone and leading education advocate, Geoffrey Canada, appeared on Tuesday’s The Colbert Report where he discussed his vision to improve education.
BoardBuzz likes that there has been a stronger focus and awareness on concussions in athletes of all level.
Injuries and even deaths have always been a part of athletics. Until the 1970s, when helmets became effective, football players often died from traumatic head injuries.
Today, CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported on a high school football athlete who suffered a brain injury due to multiple concussions.
