20
Session Headline
Building public support for schools, how to deal
with the health care reform laws, leadership
techniques,
major
issues
facing
school
administrators and a panel discussion regarding
IASA’s Vision 20/20 initiative highlight the topics that
will be addressed during the IASA Annual
Conference October 9-11 in Springfield.
Registration will open August 13 for the
statewide conference. For more information, or to
register, please click
“We are really excited about the lineup of
speakers and topics for this conference,” said IASA
Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark. “We have been
fortunate to get some nationally known speakers to
share their views and experiences with us regarding
some really timely issues in public education.”
The lineup of speakers and presentations
includes:
Award-winning author Jamie Vollmer, president
of Vollmer, Inc., a public education advocacy firm
working to increase student success by raising
public support for America’s schools. Vollmer’s
presentation is titled “Welcome to the Great
Conversation: Building public support for public
schools one community at a time.”
The presentation will focus on themes from his
book “Schools Cannot Do It Alone,” which was
called “one of the top 10 education reads of
2010” by the
American School Board Journal.
Those themes include community understanding
of the challenges facing our children and our
schools, community trust in their local schools to
accomplish the goal, community permission to
make the changes needed to teach all children to
high levels, and community support throughout
the complex and emotional restructuring process.
“Health Care Reform: What You Need to Do
from Now to 2015” presented by Susan Relland,
vice president of American Fidelity Assurance
Company. Formerly an employee benefits
attorney with the law firm of Miller & Chevalier in
Washington, D.C., Relland was actively involved
in the Affordable Care Act legislative debate.
Her presentation will focus on the rules that
create responsibilities for employers – and school
districts – between now and 2015. Topics will
include the Fr e Rider Penalty and other new
plan design mandates, fees and administrative
obligations.
She
will
break down
the
requirements
and
help
attendees
create their
own action
plans.
Veteran Illinois educator Jim Burgett, a former
IASA Superintendent of the Year and a popular
national speaker, will talk about “Leadership in
Challenging Times: Back to the Basics.” He will
address such things as a countdown of
leadership
techniques
and
no-nonsense
leadership skills that work and have passed the
test of time.
Burgett also was named Administrator of the
Year by the Illinois Association of Educational
Office Professionals (IAEOP) and recipient of the
Van Miller Distinguished Scholar Practitioner
Award. He also has published several books,
including “What Every Superintendent and
Principal Needs to Know.”
Key staff from the Illinois State Board of
Education (ISBE) will conduct a discussion titled
“The Big Picture” regarding school finance,
licensure, assessments and learning standards.
ISBE staff also will be available to respond to
questions on a variety of topics.
Dr. Clark and ECRA President Dr. John Gatta
will head up a General Session titled “IASA
Vision 20/20: Creating a Vision for the Future of
Education in Illinois.” The session also will
include members of the Vision 20/20 work groups
and will discuss the impetus and motivation for
the initiative as well as the process, research and
information gathered so far for the statewide
project.
The conference will also include an academy
and breakout sessions designed. The academy
is
“Basic
Collective
Bargaining-revised
2011” (AAC 1045). Breakout sessions include
“Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What
Matters Most,” “Ten Lessons from my First Year
as a Superintendent: How to Survive and Thrive,”
and “New Superintendents Roundtable.”
IASA Annual Conference
features dynamic lineup of speakers
Registration to open August 13 for October 9-11 conference in Springfield
