EdSource’s Post

To anyone thinking of becoming a K-12 school system Superintendent, check out this upcoming roundtable discussion. Panelists include retired California Superintendents, but can surely be relevant to other states. #educationalleadership #k12education

REGISTER TODAY: The number of California school superintendents quitting or retiring is escalating, despite increased salaries and benefits. Among the reasons for leaving: Stress, polarized politics and threats stemming from pandemic school closures. Some are being pushed out by newly elected school board majorities. • Why have superintendent jobs become so difficult? • What can school boards do to attract and retain superintendents? • What can superintendents do to navigate politically charged board meetings and issues? Join EdSource’s Diana Lambert and Anne Vasquez as they explore these questions and much more with a panel of veteran superintendents and experts.

REGISTER: The job of school superintendent has changed tremendously since schools closed at the beginning of the pandemic. When schools reopened, students needed more mental health and academic support, and school board meetings had become politically polarized. Superintendents often bore the brunt of parents’ anger over school closures and other contentious issues. Now, an increasing number of superintendents are quitting or retiring, despite increased benefits and salaries. • Why have superintendent jobs become so difficult? • What can school boards do to attract and retain superintendents? • How can superintendents navigate politically charged board meetings and issues? Join EdSource’s Diana Lambert and Anne Vasquez as they explore these questions and much more with a panel of veteran superintendents and experts. Speakers: • Carl Cohn, professor emeritus and senior research fellow, Claremont Graduate University • Cathy Nichols-Washer, former superintendent, Lodi Unified School District • Chris Evans, former superintendent, NATOMAS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT • Gregory Franklin, former superintendent, TUSTIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT • Dr. Vivian Ekchian, former superintendent, Glendale Unified School District

Taking no public comment, the divided school board picked insider Eduardo Galvan as interim superintendent late last month. The board’s decision took place mainly in closed session, prompting protest, reports WISN 12 News https://lnkd.in/gRRx9YC2 #SchoolBoard #EducationMatters #SuperintendentSearch #PublicEducation #SchoolLeadership #EducationReform #SchoolGovernance #EducationPolicy

Talk about creative recruiting and retention. I'd love to hear other innovative recruiting strategies

"Success as the exception" I can tell you from experience what you'll find in charter schools in MN. You'll find underqualified teachers, few of whom have teaching licenses, many of whom have no experience. You'll find a few qualified teachers carrying their colleagues on their backs: when I was a teacher I was expected to create the entire curriculum for Teach for America coworker who had no training. You'll find students and families who are incredible, but who have been misled by the sparkly marketing of charters promising to deliver outcomes that will never come. You'll find punitive discipline that has been proven to contribute to the school to prison pipeline. You'll find administration that is inexperienced and uneducated: I had a "mentor" teacher who had less teaching experience than I and no formal training in educational leadership. Don't get me started on the students with the highest needs: I have seen egregious violations of special education law more than once. I urge everyone to read this article by the Star Trib. I have been both a student and a teacher in charter schools and I can tell you definitively they are not the solution for education issues in Minnesota. Charter schools cost taxpayers over a billion dollars in Minnesota last year, but they continue to fail to meet basic academic standards. There is almost no oversight and none of these schools are evaluated on academic proficiency, even those that have been open for a decade or more. Do some charter schools work? Sure. But the vast majority are failing students over and over and over. We need to invest in traditional, neighborhood public schools where teachers and administrators are licensed and there is an establish set of checks and balances.

I'm especially interested in this post by Horizon Care & Education, describing their therapeutic approach with a focus on learning spaces. Many years ago I was a regular contributor for SEND Magazine. One such article was on the learning environment & optimum learning spaces, taking as research an analysis of the teaching spaces for children with SEND across a number of schools. Audits of learning spaces, for highly vulnerable children, included - dining halls, corridors, changing rooms, outside classrooms, outside the HT's office, libraries, IT rooms... Hardly optimum learning environments. Combine that with the number of hours a typical student with SEND is out of the classroom, and there are a host of added difficulties right there. So, lots of words to say, this article pleases me on many fronts. Well done.

This article is a tad wonky but know the subject matter is one vital to Mississippi moving off the bottom! We have got to get more of our citizens working in order for this to happen. #itcanhappenherems

This month in Stroll Magazine, I interviewed Kimberly Gannett, a high school counselor at Peak to Peak Charter School about tips to maximize #college visits this summer. We talked about: ❓Questions you should ask #admissions counselors (and others on campus!). 📋 How to use your time on #campus and in a college town. 💰 Considerations beyond #tuition and fees when looking at colleges. Read the full article (attached here!) and let me know what else families and students should consider when visiting colleges and universities -- in their state or across the country!

All Things Are Possible