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MESPA Leaders Lobby Capitol Hill
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MESPA NAESP State Representative Steven Geis

September 2011 --
From MESPA NAESP State Representative Steven Geis

MESPA Leaders Lobby Capitol Hill

Those of you who live in the MN 1st Congressional District please send a note of thanks to Representative Tim Walz (http://walz.house.gov/). He spoke at the National Leaders Conference and is one of only two representatives who have worked under NCLB. He knows education, understands mandates, and appreciates all educators. He mentioned by name Principal Richard Lund and all the great work he has done opening Rosa Parks Elementary (Mankato). Rep. Walz continues to be an advocate for early childhood investments and knows innovation and educating our students are most important.
 
After Walz spoke to the NAESP Assembly we stormed Capitol Hill visiting all 10 of our  MN Congressional delegation. (Judy Bolduc at MESPA deserves a huge thank you for scheduling all 10 appointments. This is a tricky task for the Congressional offices. On paper they look close, but in reality they are a good distance apart.)  The message we delivered was clear, concise and filled with personal experiences. 
 
We shared and discussed with the Congressional staff and members of congress that in revising ESEA it needs to:              
  1. Recognize the core competencies of effective school leadership;
  2. Include meaningful professional development (early childhood education, effective mentoring, and support); and
  3. Use the right yardstick to measure student performance.
All the meetings were productive but your thoughts, words and experiences MATTER. Please take time to share them by calling, emailing and writing letters to your representative and senators. (Not sure
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Dr. Steven Geis (far left), MESPA NAESP State Representative, recently joined elementary and middle-level educators and leaders from across the country in the nation’s capital during the NAESP National Leaders Conference. Photographed here with Sen. Amy Klobuchar are: Geis, MESPA Past President Jon Millerhagen, MESPA President Kristine Stueve, Senator Klobuchar, MESPA Executive Director P. Fred Storti, and MESPA Federal Relations Coordinator Joey Page.
who to contact? Visit the MESPA Legislative Advocacy Center on our Members Only Web; click on Who Represents Me? in the right column.)
 
NAESP NEWS
MESPA is part of Zone 7 within NAESP, which includes: Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
 
Our Zone 7 Director Kenny Jones from Wyoming has done a great job representing all principals and will be ending his tenure on the board of directors of NAESP.  I thanked him for his leadership on behalf of principals in Minnesota.
 
In his report to Zone 7 he shared what is happening at NAESP.  Our NAESP Past President Barb Chester (who attended MESPA Institute 2011 last February) will be chairing a By-laws Revision Committee. A Principal Education Committee chaired by NAESP President Rob Monson will work jointly with NAESP to work on guiding development of a principal evaluation that will be “fair, comprehensive and multi-faceted to include multiple measures, consideration of growth, formative and summative processes, and consideration of the contextual situation that is unique for each principal.”
 
Finally please reserve and block your calendar for the 2012 Best Practices for Better Schools NAESP Conference in Seattle, WA on March 22-24. You won’t need any other national conference in 2012. The sneak preview of speakers thus far includes: Richard Dufour, Rebecca Dufour, Diane Ravitch, Yung Zhao, and Charlotte Danielson. I look forward to seeing a large delegation from MN in the awesome city of Seattle.
 
It truly is my humble pleasure representing you as the MESPA NAESP State Representative and please know I am just a phone call (651-460-1802) or email (sgeis@farmington.k12.mn.us) away.




Mission: The Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association is dedicated to promoting and improving education for children and youth, strengthening the role as educational leader for elementary and middle level principals, and collaborating with partners in education to assist in achieving these goals.

Leading schools toward excellence through the MESPA vision to be the premiere resource for preparing today's principals for tomorrow and a strong leading voice for public education.

Minnesota Elementary School Principals' Association
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