| FOR RELEASE: October 26, 2012 CONTACT: David Albert School districts around the state should take note of four key lessons from the first year of the property tax cap, according to a new research brief issued today by the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA). “As school districts begin community budget forums and planning sessions, now is an opportune time to reflect back and ask, ‘What can we learn from our first go-round with the cap?’” said NYSSBA Executive Director Timothy G. Kremer. |
| FOR RELEASE: October 25, 2012 CONTACT: David Albert Anne L. Bryant, recently retired as executive director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA), has been named the 2012 New York State School Boards Association’s President’s Award winner. The President’s Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions toward the betterment of public education in New York. It is the highest tribute that the Association bestows outside its membership. |
| FOR RELEASE: October 18, 2012 CONTACT: David Albert Nearly 2,000 school board members, superintendents and educators from across New York will arrive in Rochester next week for the New York State School Boards Association’s 93rd Annual Convention and Education Expo. The three-day event is being held Oct. 25-27 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Among the headline speakers are FOX News political analyst and Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Juan Williams; teacher and best-selling author Erin Gruwell, whose journey is chronicled in The Freedom Writers Diary, which became a movie with Oscar winner Hilary Swank; and bullying prevention expert Barbara Coloroso. The convention comes as New York schools implement a number of key federal education initiatives – including Race to the Top and Common Core learning standards – as well as a number of new statewide measures such as teacher and principal evaluation systems and the Dignity for All Students Act. State Education Commissioner John King will also be on hand to discuss the impact of these initiatives on schools. |
|
|
| On Board Online • October 15, 2012 By Merri Rosenberg Special Correspondent and Eric D. Randall Editor-in-Chief It wasn’t easy picking the winners of the inaugural Be the Change for Kids Innovation Awards. Out of a field of 38 entries from 36 districts, the successful programs impressed the judges with evidence that they had made a difference. “They had been operating for several years, had good assessments, and do carry over,” said Richard Collier, chair of the judges’ committee. “We wanted something that isn’t dependent on one heroic teacher.” The winning districts were the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District for its “Community Connections” program, the New Lebanon Central School District for its “Exploring Nanotechnology” program, and the Rondout Valley Central School District for “Science Research in the High School.” |
| On Board Online • October 15, 2012 By Cathy Woodruff Shrinking student enrollments are leading many local school leaders to consider choices that might have seemed inconceivable just a decade ago. In the Hudson River city of Kingston, where enrollment easily topped 10,000 in the heyday of super-employer IBM, the number of students has dipped below 7,000. The school board voted in August to close three elementary schools at the end of this school year. Erie County’s Kenmore-Tonawanda, which was among the state’s largest districts in the 1960s and 1970s with more than 22,000 students, now has just 7,300. An elementary school is slated to close next year, and the district is studying consolidation among Ken-Ton’s 13 remaining schools. |
| On Board Online • October 15, 2012 Every once in a while we get to experience something really special as a school board member – something that reminds us of why we ran for school board in the first place. We all beam with pride, for example, during graduation ceremonies, school concerts, and athletic events when we see our students demonstrate their academic, musical or athletic proficiencies. I recently had such an experience when I participated in the announcement of the inaugural “Be the Change for Kids” Innovation Award winners, which was held at the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE). Each of the winning districts receives $5,000, funded by CNSE. You may recall that NYSSBA started the “Be the Change for Kids” campaign in the aftermath of the recent national economic decline, as a way to help school leaders make the most of their limited resources. “Be the Change for Kids” has evolved into an organizational theme for NYSSBA. It captures the near-universal desire among school board members to find new and better ways of delivering public education and meet unique challenges of the 21st Century. |
| On Board Online • October 15, 2012 By Merri Rosenberg When it comes to school districts that are scientific powerhouses, Ossining doesn’t fit the profile. Its student body is 60 percent Hispanic or black, and 38 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunch. Its high school is a community-based school, not a magnet. No matter. The Intel Foundation has awarded Ossining High School its highest honor, the Star Innovator Award, in recognition of its demanding, hands-on science programs, which include robotics, engineering and a Science Research Program in which professional scientists mentor students. Ossining emerged from a field of 18 finalists to claim the top prize of $20,000 on top of a prior award of $5,000. The school will also receive at least $75,000 in equipment, computer hardware and software, professional development resources and curriculum materials. |
|
|
| On Board Online • October 15, 2012 By Cathy Woodruff The State Education Department will mark the centennial of its grand Albany headquarters with guided tours offering a rare look inside the magnificent Beaux Arts building dedicated in October 1912. Open houses are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 19, and Saturday, Oct. 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 21, from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors may sign up in advance for scheduled tours, which begin during the open house days and are expected to continue through December, by following a link on the centennial portion of SED’s website, http://usny.nysed.gov/centennial/. On Board got a sneak peak in a tour with George Webb, who oversaw a painstaking restoration of the building as the department’s director of facilities and building operations. Each detail reflects the vision articulated by Andrew Sloan Draper, New York’s first education commissioner, Webb explained. |
<< Previous Page Next Page >> |