4
Bottom Right on Page 5:
Business executive and author Jamie Vollmer – once a harsh critic of
public education who now is one of its leading advocates -- was the first
keynote speaker and talked about building community and public support
for public education. He said his most important words of advice were that
school administrators need to have conversations about public education
“on the community’s turf and at the community’s convenience.”
He shared his “Five Ss” for how to turn around public opinion,
including: 1)
Stop
badmouthing one another in public, 2)
Shift
attention
from the negative to the positive, 3)
Share
something positive about your
schools using your social network and all means at your disposal, 4)
Sustain
the effort, and 5)
Start
now!
Despite everything being thrown at school administrators, Vollmer
said “Public education is a miracle. And this is its most hopeful time.” He
explained that “We have never been in this place before, where we are
required to do everything we can do to unfold the potential in every
student. It used to be that not every student needed a degree to make a
good living, but that agro-industrial economy doesn’t exist anymore. We
have reached a point where the moral imperative and the practical need
to educate every child are now the same thing because our once highly
forgiving economy is gone.”
Bottom Left on page 5:
Jamie Vollmer holds up a poster
titled, “The Ever Increasing Burden on
America’s Public Schools”. The poster
lists responsibilities, mandates and
laws that have been imposed on
public schools since 1900. The poster
is more than 3 feet long and lists 98
different items.
The posters says “By the
beginning of the 20th Century,
America’s leaders saw public schools
as the logical place to select and sort
young people into two groups—
thinkers and doers– according to the
needs of the Industrial Age. It was at
this time that we began to shift non-
academic duties to the schools. The
trend has accelerated ever since...The
contract between our communities
and our schools has changed. It is no
longer, “Help us teach our children.”
It’s, “Raise our kids!”
Center photo on Page 5:
More than 500 superintendents and school administrators attended the 49th Annual IASA Conference October 9-
11 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. The IASA’s 50th Annual Conference is scheduled for October 8-10, 2014.
Top Left on page 5:
IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark presents the IASA
Exemplary Service to Education Award to Jim Broadway, an
education journalist for the past 43 years, who publishes the
State School News Service
and has been a staunch advocate
for public education. An education reporter since 1970,
Broadway talked about the persona of educators, saying “What
you do in society is more crucial to the success of our nation
than other professions.”
49th Annual IASA Conference through the camera lens
Top Right on Page 5:
Christine Bryant, a 14-year-old freshman
from Goreville and the reigning “Miss Illinois
Photogenic,” opens the 49
th
Annual IASA
Conference with the Pledge of Allegiance
and the National Anthem. In the background
is IASA President Dr. Steve Webb,
superintendent of the Goreville Community
Unit District 1.
In his opening remarks, Webb said
“We’re here together to discuss strategies,
best practices and learn from each other
because we are superintendents. We are
THE education leaders, and no matter what
acronyms they throw at us, we stay the
course to maintain educational excellence
because that was our mission yesterday,
that is our mission today, and that will most
certainly be our mission tomorrow. I
appreciate your tenacity.”
