NSBA Reflections From Your Northeast Representatives
Mary Broderick (CT), Anne Byrne (NY) and Scott Mueller (RI)
We have all been asked on numerous occasions, just what it is we do as members of boards of education. As your national representatives, we have also been asked that same question. So we thought you might find it educational to learn about our roles as your representatives.
BOARD MAKE-UP: As you know from our last article, written by Mary Broderick, the three of us represent the Northeast Region, which includes Maine to Maryland as well as the Virgin Islands. There are five national regions, each with three representatives. We therefore have 15 regional directors, the president, the president-elect, the secretary-treasurer, the immediate past president, and three ex-officio voting members, one each from the Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE), the National Hispanic Caucus of School Board Members, and the National Black Caucus of School Board Members. Non-voting ex-officio members include the Executive Director (Anne Bryant), and representatives of the Council of School Attorneys, and the chair of the Federation Member Executive Directors' NSBA Liaison Committee.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Our roles and responsibilities vary, but we are your representatives to the National Board. As a national board member we speak on behalf of 95,000 school board members. We meet five times a year in person, around national conferences, or at NSBA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
Just like your own role as board members, it is important that we are at every board meeting. We, like you, must be prepared for every meeting by doing our homework and keeping informed. Our agenda topics are all aligned with our goals and beliefs. Our highest priority is student achievement, so we have many items dealing with our children and their learning.
We learn about the latest advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill or in the courts. We have many discussions about NCLB, financing of education, vouchers, bills that may impact us etc., as well as the amicus briefs that NSBA may be filing on behalf of our membership. We hear about the latest research and trends that are on the horizon and what they may mean for our members and our students. School board governance is a hot topic as of late due to the mayoral takeover dialogue. We try to set the record straight with regard to public education.
We also spend time on NSBA's resources and finances to insure that we remain a creative, financially viable organization. Of course, one of our most important jobs is hiring and evaluating our executive director.
As national board members we as a board try to stay on the cutting edge of what is happening in public education. We attend seminars, workshops, webinars, and national meetings to stay informed. The board does an annual self evaluation to see where we can improve on our work.
Within the NSBA organization there are many committees. This year's committees are as follows.
The executive committee is comprised of the officers, and three members elected by the Board of Directors at the first meeting with the new president. This year the elected executive committee members are Kerry Clegg, Steve Corona and Anne Byrne. Also on this committee are Anne Bryant, executive director, and Sis Henry, Executive Director, GA, who is an ex-officio observer. Their responsibilities include looking at amicus briefs between board of directors' meetings, working on the proposed budget for the organization, and other duties per the president.
Most committees are appointed by the president.
- The student achievement committee is comprised of 8 members of the NSBA board and they look at best practices and the role of school boards in improving student performance.
- The nominating committee is comprised of the immediate past president as chair and the president as observer. Ten members are elected by the NSBA regions, two from each region. Five members are appointed by the president.
- The T+L committee deals with both the Technology +Learning conference and the Technology Leadership Network and their goals and budgets. It is comprised of five NSBA board members, one from each region.
- The Constitution and Bylaws committee reviews the bylaws to see if they need revision or updating. It is comprised of 5 members of the NSBA board of directors, one from each region.
- The Policies and Resolutions committee is comprised of a chair and 2 sub-chairs from the NSBA board, two other NSBA board members, ex-officio CUBE chair, Hispanic Caucus chair and Black Caucus chair, plus Anne Bryant and past liaison executive director, Mike Johnson. The NSBA president appoints 5 at large members, one from each region and each region elects one member and one alternate. The committee reviews submitted policies and resolutions from the state associations and either recommends or not-recommends them for discussion and approval at the delegate assembly. Approved policies and resolutions then become the marching orders for our advocacy and legal staff.
- The NSBA Audit committee is comprised of the president-elect, chair, the president, secretary/treasurer, the immediate past president, and three NSBA board members.
- The NSBA Shannon Award Committee is comprised of eight NSBA board members.
- The Pension and Health Plan Trustees Committee is comprised of the president, president-elect, secretary/treasurer, immediate past president and Anne Bryant.
- The National Affiliate Committee is comprised or five NSBA board members, one from each region.
- The credentials committee consists of ten members from the 2009 delegate assembly plus a chair and two members from the NSBA board of directors.
- The election committee has five members appointed by the president from the 2009 delegate assembly list, one from each region.
- The Sergeant-At Arms Committee has ten members appointed by the president from the 2009 delegate assembly list.
- The time keepers are two members appointed by the president from the 2009 delegate assembly list.
There are also Board Member representatives to national organizations, including the Learning First Alliance, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the National Council for Accreditation of teacher education (NCATE). Board members also are appointed to serve as liaisons with the NSBA School Health Program and the Extended Day Learning Opportunities program.
Each NSBA director is assigned to be the liaison to up to three state associations.
All three of us, have served or are serving on the various committees. Most committee meetings are in conjunction with board meetings or by teleconference. A report from the committee goes to the board at a regular board meeting or to the delegate assembly if it is a bylaw, policy or resolutions matter.
It is a pleasure to serve on the national board. The board is made up of wonderful board members who want only the best for our students. We have an exceptional staff at NSBA who carry out the wishes of the board and federation.
We welcome your ideas and input. You can reach us through the NSBA website (nsba.org.) or through our individual e-mails: Mary Broderick, mbroderick54@sbcglobal.net, Anne Byrne, annembyrne@aol.com, and Scott Mueller, scottmueller@cs.com.