Eggs and Issues forum on education

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Eggs and Issues forum on education

Robert Scott-Texas Commissioner of Education,Mavis Knight-State Board of Education, Senator Royse West, Taylor D. August-Regional Director-Office of Civil Rights-US-DOE, Mike Miles-Dallas ISD and other district Superintendents with Shelley Kofler-KERA News, moderator-

Community stakeholders in and around Senatorial District 23 attended Saturday morning's Eggs and Issues forum, one in a series initiated and hosted by Senator Royce West. From parents to principals, school adopters to community organizers, policy-makers to neighbors and friends -- gathered in the auditorium of Methodist Charlton Medical Center on West Wheatland. Guests heard from Texas state and Dallas area education leaders.

Robert Scott, Texas Commissioner of Education, provided an "Overview of Texas Public Education." State Board of Education member Mavis Knight gave her perspective on the recent meeting and work of the State Board. Taylor D. August, Regional Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, described a few on-going activities which are presently affecting public education.

Moderator Shelley Kofler, of KERA News, guided an informative Question & Answer session between the audience and the following panelists:

Superintendent Horace Williams -- Cedar Hill ISD

Superintendent Mike Miles -- Dallas ISD

Superintendent David Harris -- DeSoto ISD

Superintendent Alfred Ray -- Duncanville ISD

Executive Director Ricky Mitchell -- Grand Prairie ISD

Superintendent Michael McFarland -- Lancaster ISD

Superintendent Linda Henrie -- Mesquite ISD

The program announcement invited guests to participate in a lively discussion intended to include "questions that you want to ask about what is happening in your district's classrooms."

A Teacher's Creed

"In the classroom on the first day of a new school year, I am eager to meet my students. I have rehearsed my greeting and first day’s remarks, but no matter how many years I’ve prepared for this procedure, it’s always new. My heart pumps a bit harder, faster; I feel adrenaline like an athlete, or like an actor, or maybe like a novice public speaker. It’s a marvelous feeling, this first day, because I know that something special is going to happen, and I know it because I’ve experienced it before and I know that I will experience it every time I meet a new class throughout my venerable career. And then they’re seated before me and I smile at this special feeling. This is an assembly of students, yes. But there’s so much more, because each of these young persons is more than just a student entrusted to me. Each of these students has a story to tell, a lifetime, however brief, of experiences, a history in volumes whose richness and depth I can barely begin to fathom. And so as I absorb the first glimpse of these young charges, I must appreciate the extent of my responsibility, of the privilege I’ve accepted in presenting these young souls my special knowledge. In offering them my talent and passion, I am adding an enormous array of new bright stars to the vast firmament of their minds, stars that will never have time to fade in their lifetimes. I will be part of their story. And I know that each of them will always be part of mine. And that’s a good feeling, a feeling that is perpetually renewed, revisited, and rewritten in A Teacher’s Creed."

Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Eggs and Issues forum on education

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DALLAS ISD Blog