I am spending a few days this week out in Hershey, PA at the Pennsylvania School Leadership Conference. This conference is held each year and is presented by the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA).
Before I head out for Day 2, I wanted to put some highlights down from Day 1.
We kicked off the day with a welcome speech. One of the videos that is making the rounds on the internet today is this one. This is what education is all about. The belief in people to achieve. Do YOU believe. You will after watching that video. The introduction was followed by a terrific speech from Dr. Rudy Crew. Crew has been there and done that. From New York to Miami to Sacramento, the man is at his best when schools are at their worst. His message, while focused on his experience in inner-city schools, is a universal one. His morning greeting boiled down to a few terrific points:
1) Aim low, get low- The education system as constructed today is fundamentally flawed. We have schools across this country that aim at the No Child Left Behind scores for Adequate Yearly Progress. Crew says this is a false sense of success. When schools aim to get their students to show AYP progress they forget the important things. If you aim to get AYP progress, you will get AYP progress and not much else. We must aim high to achieve high goals. In the world of globalization that we will be entering it is not about who has the best AYP score. It is about who can do the jobs in a globalized world.
2) Civic Literacy in America has been killed- When you have Jay Leno, Howard Stern and others out on the streets interviewing average Americans about simple facts on civics and they literally have no clue, what does that say about our education system? What does it say about our education systems that you could ask the same questions of people in France, Germany, Australia, Latvia, etc. and they would KNOW the answers to American civics. Why is it that other countries put more emphasis on the American way than Americans do? Crew suggests that our educators must begin to re-emphasize the importance of civic literacy lest we lose sight of what this country is supposed to be all about.
3) Wear your best everyday- Dr. Crew emphasized the importance of doing our best everyday. Kids come to school to learn. In the places where Crew has worked, sometimes school is all these kids have to get shelter, to get food, to get love, and to get support. It is important for educators to understand this dynamic and to put their "best dress" on everyday.
Dr. Crew is an accomplished speaker and educator. You can view one of his presentations here.
I was moved by his morning speech and attended his break-out group on the topic of Educating in a Globalized world. This section dug much deeper into the topics mentioned above. He also talked a bit about the disparities in funding from one school district to another and the effect this has on students.
The afternoon session I attended was a legislative update. There are a number of worrisome bills out that that I will call more attention to later. Here is a short list:
1) Statewide Graduation Competency Assessments- While this issue was supposed to have been put to rest last year, the Board of Education is moving forward with plans to re-introduce GCA requirements when the moratorium expires next July. PDE has submitted an RFP for the formation of the actual tests. This RFP will be awarded in January. I have posted about the GCAs before and will do so again. That discussion will be its own post.
2) Allegheny County Assessment Appeal- This is another topic I posted about before. Allegheny County appealed a decision to the PA Supreme Court regarding using base-years to calculate real estate taxes. The PSBA does not think this decision will come down for at least another six months. If the court agress with Judge Wettick's decision then it will have a profound effect on property tax procedures in Pennsylvania.
This post went a little long and I have to get ready for Day 2.
Thanks for reading.
James
