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 | | P. Fred Storti, MESPA Executive Director |
November 2008 --
Report from MESPA Executive Director P. Fred Storti
“As instructional leaders at the school site level, we know that great principals lead great schools. We know that as leaders we focus on the potential and possibilities to ignite hope within our schools.”
MESPA Leadership
Our 35th Annual Leadership Conference was probably the best attended and most engaged ever for MESPA Leaders! Out of the 124 invited statewide leaders, 110 attended representing the twelve state divisions and eight statewide committees. The highly engaged energy level resulted in meaningful actions for our five strategic association goals. Our new board of directors provided clear direction on our Members Needs Assessment survey, which at this writing is being tabulated.
Thanks to all that took the time to provide feedback on the Needs Assessment and for a very respectable and significant 59 percent return from our active members. Your responses will help redirect and validate the programs and services that MESPA facilitates in our continual mission to be a grassroots and responsive association.
National Leadership
Having recently completed a historic state and federal election, what does that mean for public education? At the federal level with President-elect Obama’s administration and the increased Democratic congressional seats, there should be less gridlock and an opportunity to reform No Child Left Behind by improving assessments and improving the accountability system. Speaking in Dayton, Ohio on September 9, Senator Obama presented a new vision for 21st century education: “We must fix the failures of NCLB. We must provide the funding we were promised, give our states the resources they need, and finally meet our commitment to special education…Forcing our teachers, our principals, and our schools to accomplish all of this without the resources they need is wrong.” President-elect Obama has stated he will double the investment in research and development regarding better educational tools and methods. Ensuring access to high quality early childhood education programs and childcare also was one of Obama’s campaign promises.
I am hopeful that our new administration will work with our nation’s governors and educators to create and use assessments that can improve achievement all across America by including the kinds of research, scientific investigation, and problem solving that our children will need to compete in a 21st century knowledge-economy.
State Leadership
At the state level, legislators who have been strongly supportive of schools were re-elected on November 4. The governor had put a call out to his commissioners to cut spending by five percent. Our schools cannot survive and continue to offer quality programs at this rate. “Minnesota’s position in comparison to other states can and has deteriorated. This deterioration has coincided with a relative shrinkage in Minnesota’s public investment,” according to Minnesota 20/20. The 2009 Legislative session is a funding year for our schools. Unfortunately, we are hearing this will be a policy session, not a funding session, because policies don’t cost money. We can’t settle for that!
If we can find the political will to fund transportation as was done in the last session and if we can pass a Clean Water Amendment like we did on November 4, we can find a way to appropriately fund our P-12 schools! We need the new Minnesota Miracle to define the vision for public education and an immediate and longer-term policy to fund it. Minnesotans know the value of quality public education and we need to find a way to invest in it even during challenging times.
School Leadership
As instructional leaders at the school site level, we know that great principals lead great schools. We know that as leaders we focus on the potential and possibilities to ignite hope within our schools. We develop processes through which challenges are transformed into opportunities.
In the words of Colin Powell: “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand!” and “Wouldn’t it be great if we could look forward to a whole world in which no child will be left behind?”
Thank you for your grounded beliefs and work that demonstrates that every child is a possibility and every challenge an opportunity!
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