Page 3 - Leadership Matters February 2013_3140b78f.pub

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IASA to launch Vision 20/20 initiative
Many times statewide organizations are best
known for what they oppose rather than those things
for which they stand. When it comes to educating
children, the IASA has always tried to be proactive.
The IASA Board of Directors in November
overwhelmingly supported a proposal to move forward
with a “visioning” process to develop a long-range
blueprint for improving public education in Illinois.
The mountain educators in Illinois have to climb is
high and getting much steeper with more and more
unfunded mandates, a litany of reform measures that
have limited or no proven record of success, and the
raising of federal and state standards – all converging
at the same time budgets are being slashed and
teachers are being laid off, resulting in larger class
sizes and less individualized instruction.
It’s easy to say those things are wrong, but just
being anti-something doesn’t really help solve
problems. We need to offer a better plan, and the
visioning initiative will help us accomplish that goal.
Public education probably won’t look the same in five
years, let alone 10 years from now.
We believe IASA members have the collective
education, experience and wisdom to provide a long-
term vision for public education, which we are calling
“Vision 20/20,” referring not only to the time frame, but
also to developing a clear focus. Our guiding principle
will be our current mission:
“Maximum Educational Success for All Students.”
Tackling such a daunting task is not a knee-jerk
reaction to the latest budget cut, unfunded mandate or
tactic by so-called reformers. Back in July of 2012 we
asked Dr. Phillip Schlechty and Dr. John Horn, both of
(Continued on page 4)
“The mountain educators in Illinois have to climb is high
and getting much steeper with more and more unfunded
mandates, a litany of reform measures that have limited or
no proven record of success, and the raising of federal and
state standards – all converging at the same time budgets
are being slashed and teachers are being laid off, resulting
in larger class sizes and less individualized instruction.
It’s easy to say those things are wrong, but just being anti-something
doesn’t really help solve problems. We need to offer a better plan, and
the visioning initiative will help us accomplish that goal. Public
education probably won’t look the same in five years, let alone 10 years
from now.”
-- IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark
Message from
IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark