CSBA’s Annual Education Conference draws thousands to San Diego
Budget insights, governance tips, new instructional delivery methods among the highlights
Published: December 6, 2011
Several thousand school board members, administrators, business officials and others in the public education community gathered in San Diego last week for CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show. The conference is unique for its focus on continuing education for school board members, with dozens of workshops and special sessions packed with information trustees need to effectively govern their school districts and county offices of education.
The conference—a staple of CSBA’s member services—also features an education trade show with more than 200 exhibitors offering essential services for public schools. Conference-goers were also treated to a slate of workshops and one-on-one trainings at the CSBA Learning Center in the Pavilion, a spacious area in the center of the exhibit hall. This year, the Pavilion hosted a relaxing social media lounge where attendees got help with their Facebook and Twitter questions, and workshop speaker Jim Spellos was on hand to answer questions about new technologies.
Attendees embraced CSBA’s invitation to instantly share comments about all conference sessions via Twitter using the #csbaaec hashtag. A quick review of the Twitter feed documents some noteworthy comments and resources from the conference.
“Back from #csbaaec - great sessions and great op[portunitie]s to learn from and build relationships with board members and sup[erintenden]ts from around the State,” Region 7 Delegate Teresa Gerringer wrote in Twitter’s distinctive style, which limits comments to 140 typed characters.
View General Sessions online through December
This year’s General Session speakers drew a packed house each day. On Thursday, Jamie Vollmer, author of “Schools Cannot Do It Alone,” championed the cause by reminding the audience that “we didn't set up public education just for individual benefit. We did it for individual benefit and public good.”
At Friday’s General Session, the charismatic mathematician, computer scientist and finance expert Salman Khan shared the story of his groundbreaking Khan Academy, which offers thousands of simple instructional videos free of charge on the Internet. Khan’s self-paced exercises have helped thousands “fill in the gaps” in their math education and progress to proficiency. The academy has a growing library of other subjects as well.
For the ever-popular State of the State General Session on Saturday, CSBA Executive Director Vernon M. Billy moderated a panel of education experts that included CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Rick Pratt; Ron Bennett, president of School Services of California; and Kevin Gordon, president of School Innovations & Advocacy. Their lively discussion, with varying predictions about the coming year’s state budget for education and other topics, capped the conference activities at the San Diego Convention Center.
Each General Session has been recorded and may be viewed through the end of December on the CSBA website.
The Annual Education Conference and Trade Show is one of the leading ways CSBA serves its membership. The association encourages each participant to evaluate the conference experience, providing input that will guide the CSBA members and staff who are already planning next year’s Annual Conference in San Francisco. Find a link to the easy online evaluation on the CSBA website.
Easy links: