Speaking of Leading:
"I told the board that I wasn't going to slow down and I haven't. I don't have senioritis. …It's been a wonderful career. The community places a lot of trust in its school leaders to do what is right for their kids, and I think I've honored that trust."
–Dennis McComb, superintendent of the Milan Area School District, in the Milan News Leader 6.19.08, regarding his June 30 retirement.

Implementing a successful school consolidation process: Part 3
Planning for transition
The decision to close and consolidate schools will require organizational and emotional changes for students, parents and staff members... More>

Personal Curriculum guidance documents
Looking for guidance on making the Personal Curriculum option available to some of your district’s students? The Michigan Department of Education has provided some new documents to help your district establish policies and processes. Visit the Personal Curriculum page at www.MichiganEdusource.org.

Call SET for consultative services! Effective Oct. 1, 2007, all districts are required to solicit bids whenever a new medical benefit plan is established, or every three years if continuing the same plan... More>

Process Mentor Team Practitioners
Process Mentor Teams were developed in the summer of 2007 as the first intervention in Michigan’s Statewide System of Support for Title I schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)... More>

New online survey service saves your district time and money; provides data to make decision
Surveys provide an effective means for gauging community perceptions and support for your school. Community input and feedback are the best ways to drive your strategic planning and goal-setting process... More>

The value of an administrator
Did you know….?
The ratio of employees to executive, administrator, and/or manager is higher in elementary and secondary schools (15.2 to 1) than in any other business or industry listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics*

Moreover, at the local school district level, the typical school superintendent manages a substantial operation, directing an annual budget averaging about $32 million, employing over 400 staff members, and serving some 3,500 students. Thus, the typical school district superintendent manages an enterprise comparable to that managed by the CEO of a $32 million industrial corporation.

So the perception in many communities that “there are just too many administrators” is not supported by fact. The truth is, school districts are major enterprises performing important public functions with substantially fewer management personnel than are round in business and industry.

Source: Answering the Critics of School Administration:What Are the Facts? (2008), available from Education Research Service.

For more facts and talking points on the Value of Administrators.

* As reported in the Number of Persons Employed per Executive, Administrator, and/or Manager in Selected Industries, 2003 [the last year for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics collected this data]

• Fall Conference promises great speaker line-up
• Highlighted Service
  • Legal & Contract Service
• Winners' Circle best practices
  • Jeanne Oakes, Special Education DVD for parents
• Members in the news
• Kent ISD administrator featured in national newsletter for superintendents

• Michigan to pilot NCLB growth model
• Changes to the School Code Master
• Fingerprinting and criminal background checks requirement
• LEA Planning Cycle Application is available

• Paying students for better grades is partially effective, study says
• House flunks Algebra II
• Social-networking sites: Friend or foe?
• Teachers: Give us better tech training, support
• Superintendent severance packages capped by NJ Assembly
• To avoid student turnover, Flint parents get rent help

• New online courses focus on the Michigan Merit Curriculum
• Online course targets integrating Internet resources

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