Riding herd: Advocating for change while maintaining loyalty First – A thank you to Dr. Balasubramanian for this invitation to share a few thoughts. My topic is being both loyal and critical – how to maintain loyalty to our community or school while still advocating for positive change. A story in my family tells of […]
How big is the PreK-12 public education industry? When I ask parents this question, the answer I get is a few billion to $20 billion. I am not kidding – we spend almost $700 billion every year in public education! Imagine the possibilities if we could turn this around to make it a $700 billion […]
Prekindergarten – 12th grade (PreK-12) public education funding: Probably too little or too much? Funding public education has and will continue to be controversial as long as we breathe. Why you ask. One word – Taxes! 100 years ago, over 80 percent of the funding came from Local Taxes, yes, our Property Taxes. Property Taxes, also […]
Transforming Public Education: Let’s Do Something Together Waiting in Houston Hobby International Airport, I was fondly remembering my visit with Jack in his home a month earlier. I was scheduled to visit him that afternoon. Instead, with a sudden turn of events, he passed away two days earlier. The Houston Chronicle had a great story […]
Why you should not “opt out” of state testing There I was, presenting information on state testing to a group of parents at a District Advisory Committee (DAC) meeting. I was sharing data at the district level and school level on the past year’s student mastery and year-to-year growth results. A parent got up and […]
How are decisions on improving student achievement made in your schools and districts? Have you been involved in school improvement planning? Have your seen your district improvement plan? Does your district have a strategic plan? What student performance trends have you seen in these plans? What celebrations have your observed? What concerns do you have […]
How might we work together to facilitate positive change in our schools and districts? To ensure every child succeeds, everyone in the educational community must work together in the schools and districts we influence. Failure is not an option! When children succeed, our schools and communities become stronger. Let’s do this one classroom, one school, […]
Educational thoughts after visiting 13 Presidential Museums in 8 months On Sunday, April 9 I completed my visit to all 13 Presidential Museums in the nation. I learned several key leadership lessons focused on strategic vision, consensus building and collaborative decision making. I sincerely appreciate those of you who went on this journey with me […]