Friday morning was the final session for the conference. This session was essentially a presentation from Sam 'the Chalk Man' Glenn. Sam is a motivational speaker with a humorous and universal message about giving your best everyday and seeing the humor in adversity. You can see a demo of his work here.
Besides the seminars, working sessions, and motivational speeches, conferences like this are good for a few other things. First, there was a Vendor Expo where we had over 100 companies available to answer questions and demonstrate some of the services they offered. Secondly, since this was a PSBA conference, I was surrounded by other school board members at all times. I will talk a bit in detail about these other aspects of the conference.
In my full-time position I have been fortunate to attend expos much like the one at the Hershey Lodge. Before going to the expo I made sure to identify 10 vendors that I HAD to see. These were companies that I thought the District might benefit from talking to or vendors that we already do business with. The rest of the time I wanted to have the opportunity to let something catch my eye. Chevron had a booth there. Now, one might start to wonder why the heck Chevron would be at an event like this. I know I did. It turns out they have an energy consulting division that has a written guarantee of 30% energy savings if you go with one of their energy solutions. I talked with the sales guy for 15-20 minutes and came away with some good ideas. I talked to two different roofing companies. They both sell and install materials that can be laid on top of existing roofs that would be far less expensive than a full roof replacement. These materials can be guaranteed for up to 15 years. That sort of product might come in handy some day. I talked with a company that makes a boiler system that runs on alternative fuels like switchgrass patties. These patties pack more energy in them than do traditional energy sources and run about 30% less in cost than typical energy sources. There were obviously a number of other vendors I spoke with but I won't bore you with the details.
The other beneficial part of this conference is the constant interaction with other school board members across the state. You can learn a lot by watching. No matter how well we think our board might operate, there are ways to improve. It was great to be able to sit next to a past president of the PSBA and pick her brain for a while. There were people here with far more experience than I and I made sure to use the opportunity to learn everything I could from their experiences.
All in all I hope to share much of the information I gained from this conference with the rest of the Board over time and I will encourage each of them to try to attend next year. It was well worth the time.
Thanks for reading.
James
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
PSBA Leadership Forum, Day 2
Day 2 of the conference had a lot more to do with the business of the PSBA than Day 1.
During the morning session the PSBA adopted its Legislative Platform for 2009. One of the things the PSBA is good at is lobbying. Each year the organization adopts a number of platforms that it will try to advance through its lobbying efforts. Day 2 of the conference involved discussion surrounding the inclusion or exclusion of certain topics to this platform.
Here are some highlights of the adopted 2009 PSBA Platform:
1) Under Buildings and Construction- The PSBA support legislation that provides school districts with the same options for school construction and/or renovation projects that are available to te private sector. This includes relief from the Prevailing Wage Act and Separations Act ... and the opportunity for school districts to contract with a single firm to design and build school facilities.
2) Under Educational Programs and Assessment- The PSBA opposes any effort to reduce or remove the authority of local school districts to establish graduation requirements
3) Under School Governance- The PSBA supports legislation calling for the nonpartisan election of school directors.
4) Under Federal Issues- The PSBA support efforts that allow local decision making and flexibility to better serve students in implementation of the No Childe Left Vehind Act and the IDEA.
Sounds boring, right? Actually, this platform is probably the most important part of what PSBA does in my opinion. The PSBA's opposition to the statewide Graduation Assessment was instrumental in getting that program blocked this year. The PSBA was also instrumental in securing higher minimum State school funding in this past budget. That effort resulted in MTLSD receiving a 3% minimum increase in State funding as opposed to the orignally proposed 1.5%.
After that part of the conference I was ready for some real fun. I decided it was time to dig deeper into Pennsylvania's Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators. This session was dedicated to reviewing how school district employees are responsible for behaving within some ethical guidelines set by this organization. The Professional Standards and Practices Commission put this seminar on and it was interesting to learn how they operate and what they do. Mt. Lebanon had a recent, very public case that was before the commission. Under certain circumstances the PSPC has the ability to revoke the certificate of those that violate the standards of the organization.
The lunch break came and I attended the vendor showcase in the Great American Hall. I will share the information gleaned from this part of the conference at another time.
After lunch I attended a session that reviewed recent case law that will have an effect on how all school districts operate in Pennsylvania. We reviewed the effect that even some local cases will have on our District. You may remember a case in northern Allegheny County where a student decided to put up a web page that was insulting to an employee in the school district. There was a similar case in Central PA where a student started a Facebook page mocking a school principal. The outcome of each case was very different. School Districts need to find out how to operate in an environment with laws that seem to contradict. There was another case where a student reported to a teacher that another student had drugs on her. The teacher reported to the vice-principal this information and the vice-principal then found the suspected student on campus. He brought the student to the office, had her empty her pockets and sure enough, the evidence was found. The case against this student was later deemed to be inappropriate search and seizure and there was no action that the District could take under these circumstances. We learned how to protect our rights in this instance so that if we are faced with a similar case we would be able to properly move forward without violating the Constitution.
Later in the afternoon there was a PSBA business meeting that dealt with the election of new officers to their positions.
That's all for now.
Thanks for reading.
James
During the morning session the PSBA adopted its Legislative Platform for 2009. One of the things the PSBA is good at is lobbying. Each year the organization adopts a number of platforms that it will try to advance through its lobbying efforts. Day 2 of the conference involved discussion surrounding the inclusion or exclusion of certain topics to this platform.
Here are some highlights of the adopted 2009 PSBA Platform:
1) Under Buildings and Construction- The PSBA support legislation that provides school districts with the same options for school construction and/or renovation projects that are available to te private sector. This includes relief from the Prevailing Wage Act and Separations Act ... and the opportunity for school districts to contract with a single firm to design and build school facilities.
2) Under Educational Programs and Assessment- The PSBA opposes any effort to reduce or remove the authority of local school districts to establish graduation requirements
3) Under School Governance- The PSBA supports legislation calling for the nonpartisan election of school directors.
4) Under Federal Issues- The PSBA support efforts that allow local decision making and flexibility to better serve students in implementation of the No Childe Left Vehind Act and the IDEA.
Sounds boring, right? Actually, this platform is probably the most important part of what PSBA does in my opinion. The PSBA's opposition to the statewide Graduation Assessment was instrumental in getting that program blocked this year. The PSBA was also instrumental in securing higher minimum State school funding in this past budget. That effort resulted in MTLSD receiving a 3% minimum increase in State funding as opposed to the orignally proposed 1.5%.
After that part of the conference I was ready for some real fun. I decided it was time to dig deeper into Pennsylvania's Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators. This session was dedicated to reviewing how school district employees are responsible for behaving within some ethical guidelines set by this organization. The Professional Standards and Practices Commission put this seminar on and it was interesting to learn how they operate and what they do. Mt. Lebanon had a recent, very public case that was before the commission. Under certain circumstances the PSPC has the ability to revoke the certificate of those that violate the standards of the organization.
The lunch break came and I attended the vendor showcase in the Great American Hall. I will share the information gleaned from this part of the conference at another time.
After lunch I attended a session that reviewed recent case law that will have an effect on how all school districts operate in Pennsylvania. We reviewed the effect that even some local cases will have on our District. You may remember a case in northern Allegheny County where a student decided to put up a web page that was insulting to an employee in the school district. There was a similar case in Central PA where a student started a Facebook page mocking a school principal. The outcome of each case was very different. School Districts need to find out how to operate in an environment with laws that seem to contradict. There was another case where a student reported to a teacher that another student had drugs on her. The teacher reported to the vice-principal this information and the vice-principal then found the suspected student on campus. He brought the student to the office, had her empty her pockets and sure enough, the evidence was found. The case against this student was later deemed to be inappropriate search and seizure and there was no action that the District could take under these circumstances. We learned how to protect our rights in this instance so that if we are faced with a similar case we would be able to properly move forward without violating the Constitution.
Later in the afternoon there was a PSBA business meeting that dealt with the election of new officers to their positions.
That's all for now.
Thanks for reading.
James
Thursday, October 16, 2008
PSBA Leadership Forum, Day 1
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
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
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Solar Technology Today
I came across a couple of links that I thought I would share.
CH2M Hill is a global company that is involved in engineering, construction, and operations. They have embarked on a project to identify the potential of using solar energy in 25 cities across the country.
There was an article on Marketwatch over the weekend explaining what CH2M Hill was doing and how they were doing it. Here is a quick excerpt from that article:
Punching an address into the city's search engine pulls up data on the estimated amount of solar photovoltaic energy that could be installed on a specific roof, potential electricity cost reduction, and potential carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas reduction.
Imagine being able to do that for every city in the Country and then specifically for your own home. That is where this is going. San Francisco, CA already has employed the technology. Check out this link http://sf.solarmap.org . I brought up my old address 2375 35th Ave and it pulled up a ton of information on the potential for using solar energy.
Another excerpt from the article:
"Right now, to get a solar assessment on a roof, you have to call up the solar installer, they bring their ladder, a guy wonders around on your roof, and two or three weeks later you get a report," Herrmann said. "With this technology, you could do it accurately and quickly without having to roll a truck."
Here is CH2M Hill's factsheet on the S.A.F.E technology
Think about how much money is going to be saved with this initiative. No longer will it require man-hours to do a site survey for study of the viability of solar energy at every site. For the first time in a long time I am excited about the possibility of large numbers of energy neutral homes coming on line in the next five years.
CH2M Hill has offices out by the airport. Here's hoping Pittsburgh is one of the next cities to be evaluated.
Thanks for reading.
James
CH2M Hill is a global company that is involved in engineering, construction, and operations. They have embarked on a project to identify the potential of using solar energy in 25 cities across the country.
There was an article on Marketwatch over the weekend explaining what CH2M Hill was doing and how they were doing it. Here is a quick excerpt from that article:
Punching an address into the city's search engine pulls up data on the estimated amount of solar photovoltaic energy that could be installed on a specific roof, potential electricity cost reduction, and potential carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas reduction.
Imagine being able to do that for every city in the Country and then specifically for your own home. That is where this is going. San Francisco, CA already has employed the technology. Check out this link http://sf.solarmap.org . I brought up my old address 2375 35th Ave and it pulled up a ton of information on the potential for using solar energy.
Another excerpt from the article:
"Right now, to get a solar assessment on a roof, you have to call up the solar installer, they bring their ladder, a guy wonders around on your roof, and two or three weeks later you get a report," Herrmann said. "With this technology, you could do it accurately and quickly without having to roll a truck."
Here is CH2M Hill's factsheet on the S.A.F.E technology
Think about how much money is going to be saved with this initiative. No longer will it require man-hours to do a site survey for study of the viability of solar energy at every site. For the first time in a long time I am excited about the possibility of large numbers of energy neutral homes coming on line in the next five years.
CH2M Hill has offices out by the airport. Here's hoping Pittsburgh is one of the next cities to be evaluated.
Thanks for reading.
James
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Economic Woes Getting Closer to Home
There was an interesting article in the Tribune Review yesterday. The State now has to trim $2.5 billion from its budget that was just passed in July.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_592198.html
It will be interesting to see from where they cut.
Thanks for reading.
James
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_592198.html
It will be interesting to see from where they cut.
Thanks for reading.
James
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