Count us in.

Count us in. ASSOCIATE EDITOR MARION HERBERT AND I HAD THE PLEASURE OF ATTENDINGTHE NATIONAL School Boards Association's (NSBA NSBA National School Boards AssociationNSBA National Small Business AssociationNSBA Nebraska State Bar AssociationNSBA National Snaffle Bit AssociationNSBA National Steel Bridge AllianceNSBA North Saskatoon Business Association (Canada)) 70th AnnualConference held April 10-12 in Chicago. What was most evident was howthe commitment to student success among the attendees is unwavering evenwith the increasing challenges they face in these tough economic times,including more federal mandates, charter schools and a lack of alignmentwith community expectations. The rich program included a keynote by Grammy Award-winningmusician Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (b. October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Musical Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. , who illustrated through music the importanceof arts education at a time when budget cuts are forcing most districtsto scale back, and Geoffrey Canada Geoffrey Canada (born January 13 1952) is an African-American social activist. He is the author of Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America. Since 1990, Canada has been president and CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone in Harlem, New York. , president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of HarlemChildren's Zone, addressed the National Black Caucus of SchoolBoard Members. "You have to have aspirations for all kids, and forme, that's college," said Canada. "The only goal I haveis for all these kids to go to college. If you get paid to work withother people's kids, you should have the same aspirations for themas you have for your own children. And I have yet to see a wealthyperson who did not want all of their kids to go to college." Theslogan for this year's conference, "Count Us in,"demonstrated the dedication school board members exhibit to cometogether, tackle their district's challenges, and ultimately, drivestudents to succeed. School board members across the country may need to focus on theRace to the Top program sometime next year, since it's rumored thatindividual districts will be able to apply. I understand what the Obamaadministration is doing to overhaul today's schools. It'sneeded. It's already been effective. So far a dozen states haverewritten education laws in ways the administration had recommended, andthat's big. Still, the shift of a larger proportion of federaldollars into a gamelike competition seems wrong somehow. Budgetprocesses are thrown off, and collaboration between states is lessened.Those who have better grant writers have the competitive advantage. Forty states and the District of Columbia District of Columbia,federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). applied for grants inRace to the Top's first round. One state that did not apply in thefirst round, and that will be skipping the next round, is Texas. Gov.Rick Perry considers the contest to be overly intrusive, yet unlike moststates, Texas can afford to pass on the chance for additional federalmoney. Its unique Texas Permanent School Fund provides approximately$765 million a year to local school districts, according to the TexasEducation Agency's Web site. "Lone Star" by ProductsEditor Kurt Eisele-Dyrll is the first in a three-part article series onthe states that we at DA watch as trendsetters for education reform. Along with exploring Texas as a whole, we focus on Terry Grier, thenew superintendent of the Houston independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States.[1] Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities. , whosestyle is to move quickly and boldly to improve teacher quality andstudent performance. Another administrator whom we focus on this issueis Frances Gallo, superintendent of Central Falls (R.I.) Schools. SeniorEditor Angela Pascopella checked in with this brave woman who madenational headlines for firing all the teachers, support staff andadministrators at Central Falls High School. Lastly, I'd like to applaud the administration for revivingthe Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, in March,the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. became the first of 32 K12districts to undergo federal civil rights compliance reviews. Officialssay the department's goal is to eliminate discrimination based oncolor, language and/or disability to help the United States regain itsstatus by 2020 as the leading producer of college graduates-somewhere Iknow we all want to be. Judy Faust Hartnett, Editor in Chief jharmett@districtadministration.com