Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators Volume 47 | Number 18 | February 13 , 2017
Attendees at the Every Child Counts Symposium received excellent information for those leaders that work in the fields of special education and student services . ( Photo by Steve Tabor )
ECC provides top notch learning in Anaheim
ACSA ’ s Every Child Counts Symposium : Making School the Happiest Place for Students in Anaheim drew a record number of attendees this year coming in at nearly 1,800 . Participants attended workshops , breakout sessions and keynotes from outstanding leaders including Michael Hingson , Temple Grandin and Steven Michael Quezada .
On the first day of the conference Michael Hingson and his guide dog Africa stole the show as he recounted his incredible story of working in tandem with guide dog Roselle to lead a number of people to safety from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center on Sept . 11 , 2001 . Hingson ’ s story showcased the lessons he ’ s learned over the years about overcoming adversity and about trust from working with dogs who guide him in a seeing world .
Workshops were offered on a variety of topics ranging from meeting the needs of homeless youth , to behavior support team planning , to IEP best practices as well as maximizing inclusive opportunities for all students . ACSA President Ralph Porras said , “ It is vital that we bring our leaders together at events like ECC to support each other in our mission to make education inclusive and to provide opportunities for all students .” He also referred to ACSA ’ s new vision statement , “ We serve educational leaders in the pursuit of equity and excellence to meet the diverse needs of all California students .”
ACSA Executive Director Wes Smith gave a stirring speech on day two to a packed ballroom , reminding ACSA leaders that unity as educators is a vital component in the fight for students . He mentioned the need for advocacy at the
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Dated Material federal level on behalf of every child in America .
“ Right now , public education is being threatened ,” Smith said . “ There is an attack on public education . You are the hope the 6.2 million kids in California have that the soul of public education will be saved .”
The video of his full speech can be found at Facebook . com / acsafans and on ACSA ’ s YouTube channel at Youtube . com / ACSAOrg .
On day two of the conference , Colorado Professor Temple Grandin gave a lunchtime keynote address focused on the ways in which her autistic mind works differently from the minds of many in the audience , and what educators can learn from her experiences . As one of the most accomplished and wellknown adults with autism in the world today , she offered an invaluable perspective to the gathered educators on how to support and help close opportunity gaps for the children they work with . The book signing following her talk was crowded with eager educators , and lasted for most of the afternoon .
Wrapping up day three was a closing keynote from actor Steven Michael Quezada . Quezada is perhaps best known for his role on the hit TV show Breaking Bad , and has been a longtime education advocate . As an elected member of Albuquerque Public Schools , his talk included political issues of the day , stating unequivocally that we must , “ build bridges not walls in education today .”
The symposium was planned and executed by a planning committee comprised of Tim Calkins , co-chair ; John Porter , co-chair ; Lena Bundtzen , Scott
See ECC , page 5
Sponsored bill aims at safer schools
ACSA is sponsoring a bill , Assembly Bill 165 , Cooper , D-Elk Grove , that deals with the issue of search and seizure in schools .
In 2015 , Senate Bill 178 , Leno , D-San Francisco , established the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act . The Act was intended to stop law enforcement agencies from overreaching in searching electronic devices . Before this act , law enforcement agencies could search someone ’ s cell phone and electronic communications without a search warrant . Now such a warrant is required by law .
But the unintended consequence was that it prohibited all governmental agencies from this overreach , thus covering schools as well .
However , schools are not going to seek a search warrant if they simply want to find out about a violation of school rules such as photographing a test or some such offense which does not come close to being a violation of the law .
Before , schools could search a student ’ s cell phone as long as it was on campus and they had a reasonable suspicion the phone had been used in a way that violated school rules . The courts had upheld such searches as they promoted a safe learning environment on campuses .
See AB 165 , page 3
DeVos confirmed as Secretary of Ed
As ACSA members are likely aware by now , the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment of Betsy DeVos as the nation ’ s new Secretary of Education . It was a historic occasion because Vice President Mike Pence was called to cast the deciding vote to confirm after the Senate vote deadlocked at 50-50 .
The nomination of DeVos had raised a lot of concern in the education community , particularly from teachers unions such as the California Teachers Association . There were also potential conflicts of interest raised because of large contributions to political candidates and family investments in education-related companies that might potentially profit from policies DeVos could implement .
ACSA released the following statement on DeVos ’ appointment :
“ The Association of California School Administrators is troubled by the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to the position of United States Secretary of Education .
See DEVOS , page 4
As ACSA focuses on student advocacy , the Board of Directors approved a new organizational vision statement during the January meeting in Ontario .
“ I think it is always important for our organization to grow and evolve ,” said ACSA President Ralph Porras . “ Because we have placed such a high value on equity in our everyday work , we felt like it needed to be reflected in a vision statement .”
The vision statement : “ We serve educational leaders in the pursuit of equity and excellence to meet the diverse needs of all California students .”
A committee of ACSA members and
CASC celebration . Join the California Association of Student Councils on March 25 in San Carlos , to celebrate the great work of students past and present and discuss how CASC can continue to help change the future . Early bird tickets are $ 100 , available at https :// www . eventbrite . com / e / casc-70th-anniversary-celebrationtickets-29799919361 .
Career advancement . ACSA ' s new one-day workshop , Gain a Competitive Edge , shares smart strategies from author and former superintendent Marilou Ryder to help you build your job seeking skills and gain confidence as you prepare for current and future career opportunities . Visit www . acsa . org / trainings to find upcoming workshop dates and to register .
CAAASA conference . Register now for the 2017 California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators Statewide Professional Development Summit . The theme is “ A Statewide Systematic Approach to Academic Success for African American and Other Students of Color ”. The summit takes place March 8-10 at the Sheraton San Diego and Marina .
Women ' s leadership . ACSA Regions 2 , 3 and 4 are cordially inviting members to a Women ’ s Leadership Network Event , April 24 in McClellan . The dinner and networking event will feature former Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin as a speaker . Eastin recently announced her candidacy for governor in 2018 . For information , contact Patches Kolb at ( 916 ) 286-5103 or patches . kolb @ gcccharters . org .
Youth summits . Save the date for two upcoming summits for students who wish to explore careers in STEM fields . Both summits run from 8:30 AM to 2 PM . The dates are locations are March 17 at San Jose City College and April 5 at East Los Angeles College . For information , email tpew @ tomorrow . org .
ACSA board adopts studentfocused vision statement
staff began working on forming this vision statement in November . The committee initially opened discussion on strengthening the current mission statement but instead chose to create the vision statement that focuses on current endeavors .
“ The discussions were really substantive and I think we have created a strong vision message ,” Porras said . “ I ’ m looking forward to traveling statewide delivering this new message and promoting our student advocacy .”
The new ACSA vision statement can be seen on the homepage of the association website at www . acsa . org .