Vol, 6, No. 30: October 8, 2007		Get SEAchange by email

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1. On the road

On Tuesday, October 2, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster participated in the Intern Professional Speaker Series in Milwaukee, in which elected leaders talk about their careers with interns serving in the offices of Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, U.S. Representative Gwen Moore, and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Later that day, Burmaster spoke at the second meeting of the School Readiness Philanthropy Group, an organization which intends to advocate for increased early childhood education in Milwaukee.

On Wednesday, October 3, the State Superintendent presented the 2007 New Wisconsin Promise Schools of Recognition Awards to 163 schools that are "beating the odds" by reaching high levels of student achievement despite a considerable degree of poverty among the student body, as defined by Title I eligibility and free and reduced-price lunch data. A photo gallery from the event is available at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/sprntdnt/photos.html. More information about the awards is available at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/eis/pdf/dpi2007_106.pdf.

On October 4-5, Burmaster attended the National Strategy Forum on Supporting and Staffing High-Needs Schools, an event to set national direction on the systemic problem of staffing and supporting high-needs schools with top-quality teachers. Burmaster has declared her support for this project and has encouraged teachers to pursue certification through National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), one of the sponsors of the event. NBPTS is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education and private corporations. As part of her 2007-09 budget request, Burmaster proposed increasing the stipend to $5,000 per year for nationally certified teachers and master educators who work in schools in which at least 60 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.

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You can also receive SEAchange by email. For more information about SEAchange, contact: Benson Gardner at (608) 266-3374.

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Last updated on 10/8/2007