Leadership Matters - March 2013

It’s spring training time for public education, too

conflicts with the regional and sectional basketball tournaments, but we want to make sure we schedule it at a time when legislators are going to be in town. For those that were unable to attend, there is a wrap-up story on Page 10 in this publication, and the story also contains links to videotapes of the speakers’ presentations. Those presentations also can be accessed through the Video Library on our IASA website ( www.iasaedu.org ). Speaking of the website, as many of you already know, we had some problems a few weeks ago when our website was hacked into and had to be taken off- line for several days. No personal information was compromised and we were able to get a temporary site up and running within a week. Ironically, we already had started accepting proposals for a new site a couple of weeks before the old site was compromised. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by

Not only are Major League Baseball teams like the Cardinals, Cubs and White Sox immersed in spring training, but it also is time for leaders in public education to make sure we are fully ready to handle the fastballs and curveballs sure to come our way during this spring session of the General Assembly. The governor is scheduled to deliver his Budget Address in just a few days (March 6). The process then will begin in earnest

A Message from the IASA Executive Director

toward an end of May deadline for hot-button issues like the FY14 budget, pension reform, the cost shift and the Property Tax Extension Law Limit (PTELL). The next 30 days are a perfect time to reach out to your legislators and let them know how these items will affect your school district. We recently sent IASA members a link to our new online Superintendent’s

the problems with the site going down. The temporary site will support all of our major website needs while the new website is being developed. The new site, which we hope to launch by July 1, will be dynamic and user-friendly. I mentioned earlier the strategy of using the next 30 days to reach out to legislators. Also, we have been in discussions with

Toolkit , which contains white papers on the hottest public education legislative issues as well as a template for creating a school communications plan. Each issue paper contains a section on the background of the issue, an explanation of the issue, suggested talking

State Superintendent Dr. Chris Koch about getting some mandate relief on the issues related to Certified School Nurses and class size restrictions for special education students. Dr. Koch has listened to our concerns and seems committed to working out compromises that will provide our overburdened school districts with some relief. A critical 45-day public comment period begins March 8 regarding the mandate pertaining to special education class size and the 70/30 ratio for general education classes. It is vitally important that we respond in force to support Dr. Koch in his attempt to grant us relief on this mandate in the best interests of all students, including special education students. It promises to be a lively spring for public education. Thanks in advance for doing your part to make sure our team is ready to go!

points and links to a variety of resource materials about the issue. By utilizing the same online flipping book technology and format as we use in this newsletter, we have the ability to update issues or even add new issues as circumstances dictate. Those who attended our first-ever IASA Leadership Week last week not only got to hear some fabulous speakers address very timely topics, but they also were able to participate in our Legislative Advocacy Day at the capitol as well as a reception for legislators. I have seldom seen the energy I witnessed after our members returned from visiting their legislators. Those one-on-one meetings make an impression on the legislator, and they absolutely are the most powerful force we have in affecting public education policy. Based on the initial feedback of attendees, we intend to continue Leadership Week next year, possibly moving it to early March to try and avoid

Brent Clark

4