Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership
Celebrates 15 years of Parent Empowerment
The latest 'hot topic' issues in education will be the theme of the fall meeting of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, set for Friday, November 18, 2011, at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort.
Virginia B. Edwards, president and editor of Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week, will frame the issues in her keynote address: "21st Century Education Reform: A National Perspective."
Prichard Committee executive director Stu Silberman will facilitate a "Voices from the Field" panel to hear the Kentucky perspective from:
* Mary Ann Blankenship, executive director, Kentucky Education Association
* Jerry Green, president, Kentucky Association of School Superintendents and superintendent of Pikeville Independent Schools
* Bill Scott, executive director, Kentucky School Boards Association
* Wayne Young, executive director, Kentucky Association of School Administrators
Members also will be asked to set their priorities for the Committee's work to address key education issues as they undertake a new planning process.
The Committee will also celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership, a program that prepares parents to become productive partners in education.
SOURCE: Pichard Press release
5 comments:
The death of Dr. Robert Sexton has been a great blow for the Prichard Committee. There was simply no question in many of our minds who was needed as a successor. A PhD, a man or woman with community standing, a woman/ man who didn't manipulate the public.
Cindy Heine and her husband Richard were big on Mr. Silberman and thus it came as no surprise who Sexton's successor would be, but I see the organization's credibility going out the window. To lead an organization on education reform, you can't have the reputation of an autocrat. Today, under Mr. Silberman's leadership, I see the Prichard Committee as a moribund organization.
Education reform? Don't see that as part of Stu's mission. He judges students only by their test scores. His successor is doing the same.
"Voices from the Field?"
It would seem that it could not be farther from the truth, as one must wonder about either proximity or purpose. If we are talking about folks who are most directly involved in the activities of the objective (soldiers-front line battle, farmers-cultivating crops in the field, etc)then that would seem to require the presence of active teachers to speak. If we are talking about that specific area of study or endeavor (Physicians-medicine, Artist-paint, clay, etc) then we would seem to require those who are actually practicioners of the discipline of teaching. Eitherway and no offense intended to the panel members but I doubt any of these folks have served in a classroom in over a decade if at all.
November 17, 2011 10:01 PM: I agree that Sexton was a great loss to Kentucky; one of a relatively small group of central players in the current reform, and I certainly understand the urge to replicate him. I'm not sure who could done that.
Part of why Bob was so necessary to the process is that he did most of the thinking and communicating. He guided public opinion and understood that that was what he was doing.
November 17, 2011 10:01 PM: A little more....
I don't know how the decision-making went down but the invitation to Stu came form Sam Corbet and Harvie Wilkinson (out-going and in-coming chairs). I'm sure Cindy felt just fine about it...but ultimately she's staff.
"moribund?" I wouldn't count Prichard out just yet. In fact, my read is that Prich has morphed - from a watchdog to a house pet. I don't mean that to belittle. On the contrary, when KDE is deciding what to do, Prichard is in the house. KDE even uses some of their publications as quasi-official documents. My guess is that Terry Holliday would say they are full partners.
November 18, 2011 10:44 PM: I know there are still a bunch of folks who are mad at Stu and won't get over it. OK. I understand that. But in the meantime, the world is moving on and that includes Stu. His new challenge is to reinvent himself as a statewide policy wonk. For openers, he laid bare the elements of school reform for review by the whole committee. There are worse strategies than that. My sense is that he can communicate state-wide. He will have to listen a bit more now, but that's an adjustment he can make. I'm not expecting him to become Bob. He can't. But neither does he have to. He stands on a firm foundation.
That said, Silberman will have to remain sensitive to Prichard funding. And that probably means he can't get too far away from Gates. And Gates has no shortage of good and bad ideas.
November 19, 2011 3:32 PM: OK, but I thought it was a pretty good session. True, the various representatives haven't taught in a while (or ever) but teachers can't do this work because they are teaching. So they hire representatives to give their points of view.
If I get time I'll write about that session, too.
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