Executive Director's Column: Grassroots leadership -- voices for children
By Anne L. Bryant
2/18/03 -- NSBA's annual Leadership Conference brought more than 230 state school boards association leaders to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to learn new skills to help them bring their associations to higher levels of performance.
The state leaders were inspired by thoughtful and provocative speakers: Harold C. McGraw III, president and CEO of the McGraw-Hill Cos.; James Popham, professor emeritus at UCLA; Michael Cheney, CEO of Persogenics Inc.; Harold "Bud" Hodgkinson, director of the Center for Demographic Policy; and Phil Boyle, professor at the University of North Carolina's Institute of Government.
Boyle reminded the attendees about the principles of public education in a democracy -- the values of liberty, quality, community, and prosperity -- and the skills students need to become learned citizens.
Popham, chair of the Commission on Instructionally Supportive Assessment, stretched us further, demonstrating that instructionally supportive assessments should drive a diagnostic framework so that test results tell teachers how closely aligned the curriculum is and how effective the learning is. And Hodgkinson showed us what demographic changes will mean for education in every state.
Workshops on board member standards, the use of data to drive leadership, and professional practices for raising student achievement not only informed the association leaders but allowed them to exchange best practices among one another.
Following the Leadership Conference, many of the state leaders stayed in Washington for NSBA's 30th annual Federal Relations Network Conference.
The FRN Conference focuses on three or four key issues where we, as an association, can make a difference on Capitol Hill.
This year, the issues are federal funding (the number-one issue on school board members' minds as state and local budget crises grip the nation), the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), defeating vouchers, and the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
I am always impressed by the local school board members who come to the FRN meeting. They not only give of their time to serve their communities, they also become experts in federal legislative policy issues -- and they are just plain smart and articulate.
On Feb. 3, all 900 FRN members and the state leaders who stayed for the FRN Conference participated in NSBA's Day on the Hill, a full day of meetings with members of Congress to discuss their views on the four key issues.
This year, I heard very clear expressions of urgency. The far-reaching implementation challenges of NCLB have come at a time when resources are extremely tight. Rising enrollments in most schools, increasingly challenged students in terms of learning, and a set of assessments in many states that are not good indicators of learning all point to a need for more resources.
During our Day on the Hill, only the Senate was offering hope, having passed a bipartisan funding bill with a $6.6 billion increase for K-12 education.
Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) spoke eloquently at the FRN Conference about the failure of the President and Congress to keep the promises of full funding for NCLB and IDEA. The audience did not miss the irony in Daschle's remarks that the federal government needs "corrective action," the phrase used in NCLB for schools needing improvement for failing to reach levels of proficiency by the third year.
In this case, Congress has needed improvement for nearly 30 years. It was in 1975 when Congress first promised to pay 40 percent of the costs of providing services to children with disabilities -- a promise that has not been kept.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) also spoke about the need to invest in public education. He received NSBA's Congressional Special Recognition Award for his efforts to support a $2.5 billion annual mandatory funding increase for IDEA for the next six years.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, had the crowd on its feet as he spoke eloquently about his own upbringing and the importance of educational opportunities for his family and for all the children for generations to come.
Schools boards represent citizen government at its best.
One board member asked of a speaker at the FRN Conference: "We don't have a lot of money to support congressional races. We can't get the same access as the big corporate donors. How do we get our message heard?"
The answer was clear from every speaker and every other board member: The vast majority of school board members (96 percent) are elected officials, just like members of Congress. They may have gotten fewer votes. But they know their district, and they know the education issues in their state.
School board members speak up for the people who can't vote -- the 47 million children who will either thrive in well-resourced, excellent schools or will lose their way because they did not have access to good teaching and learning.
School board members are the eyes and ears of Congress. They are the truth tellers on Capitol Hill during the FRN Conference -- and all year long. They have no ax to grind. They do not represent a paid profession. They are volunteers who give of their time and talent to govern schools so that all children will learn and each year will gain in proficiency.
These board members welcome accountability. They certainly do not shy away from challenges.
They know that to indeed leave no child behind will take resources and flexible solutions that respond to the needs of children in the rural Dakotas and the needs of children in the urban schools of Baltimore -- and everywhere in between. Watch out Congress! Here they come!
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| Reproduced with permission from the Feb. 18, 2003, issue of School Board News. Copyright © 2003, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789. |