Executive Director’s Report: We’re all in this together
By Anne L. Bryant
In these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever that our nation’s next President and the Congress are committed to public education. More than half the states’ governors are forecasting a downturn in state revenues, and that is going to place a huge burden on school board budgets.
And that is why your state school boards association is so important. Local board members, together with your state associations, are going to have to make the case with your governor and legislature that it is shortsighted to balance the state’s budget on the backs of schoolchildren.
This is a huge challenge. Making public education a top national priority means it must compete -- especially at the national level -- with health care, the economy, and Iraq. But we can prevail, because our case is so strong and because working together -- local boards, our state associations, and NSBA -- gives us strength.
We need to work together to speak with one voice to fight the “school board bashers.” In the world of public opinion, NSBA stands tall and works diligently to ensure that the school board perspective is heard.
Our press strategy is quite simple. We respond to everything. We treat reporters with respect. And we can create news, like we did with our well-touted study on social networking and the Council of Urban Boards of Education’s surveys on school climate.
When we work together, we can shape public opinion, and we can create tools to inform, to educate, and to help people take action.
Two years ago, at the urging of our state school boards associations and with their financial support, NSBA and the National School Boards Foundation launched the Center for Public Education.
The center, www.centerfor publiceducation.org, provides accurate, unbiased information in plain English for school board members, superintendents, the press, and the public. You can find research digests on issues like high-stakes testing, dropout rates, the value of prekindergarten, English language learners, class size, teacher quality, and much, much more.
Together, we can achieve success for every student. Together, we can build a national school board movement. In fact, you are already doing this by building connections among your district, your state school boards association, and NSBA.
Your state association provides advocacy with your legislature and governor, guidance on state policies, and training on a wide range of issues. Once you are a member of your state association, you can join the National Affiliate Program and receive a broad array of services and benefits.
As Marie Slater of the Wheaton-Warrenville school district in Illinois told me earlier this year: “By getting School Board News regularly, it whets our board’s appetite for discussing the larger education issues, then almost all of the board attends the annual conference with our superintendent, and we come home enthusiastic to give even more to our board work. The NSBA Annual Conference and the National Affiliate program further our education as board members. It’s our professional development.”
For many boards, the primary reason to join the National Affiliate program is NSBA’s advocacy on Capitol Hill. Through our Federal Relations Network and National Affiliate Network, more than 16,000 contacts were made to members of Congress, which helped secure extra funding for school districts in fiscal year 2008.
And consider NSBA’s work on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act: Our bill, introduced by Rep. Don Young of Alaska (H.R.648), is the only substantial piece of legislation that addresses more than 40 practical recommendations for fixing the law.
It now has 28 co-sponsors in the House and is getting more attention. In fact, one Wisconsin legislator said, at the Wisconsin School Board and Administrators Conference, that NSBA is the only education organization with any strategy for making this law work.
We know you support that strategy: More than 700 local school boards have passed resolutions urging Congress to enact our bill.
And this is why we must continue to work together. There is no way we will be able to make progress in getting NCLB fixed without the combined efforts of the state associations, the National Affiliate program, and NSBA.
More than 10 years ago, NSBA’s Board of Directors, with a lot of input from local school boards and state association leaders, developed the NSBA vision to focus school board governance on raising student achievement and connecting to our communities.
Many state associations have taken up the challenge -- one or two were already there -- and that vision hasn’t changed in all these years. We’re still working together to improve student learning and involve our communities -- because that’s what’s best for public education and it’s certainly what’s best for our children.
Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2008, 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.