Leadership Matters August 2013 issue.pub

IASA Annual Conference features dynamic lineup of speakers Registration to open August 13 for October 9-11 conference in Springfield

obligations. She will break down the requirements and help attendees create their own action plans.

Session Headline 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 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 here . “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.

 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.”

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