Vol, 7, No. 14: April 14, 2008		Get SEAchange by email

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1. On the road

On Monday, April 7, State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster addressed the annual Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) conference in Milwaukee. She congratulated the group on its exemplary service throughout the years, updated members on recent legislative and other gains, and noted with gratitude the grant presented to Wisconsin earlier that day by the Verizon Foundation, for use with Thinkfinity.org, Verizon’s free educational resource portal. At the conference, WEMTA also awarded Burmaster lifetime membership in the organization, for her strong advocacy for 21st century skills education.

Later that day, Burmaster stood with Governor Jim Doyle as he signed into law four bills that Burmaster said, in her statement, "will have a positive impact on public schools in Wisconsin": a virtual education law, a law creating an agricultural education and workforce development council, streamlined special education financial reporting requirements for school districts, and legislation to enhance suicide prevention efforts in schools. Photographs of the signings are available in the State Superintendent's Photo Gallery.

On Tuesday, April 8, State Superintendent Burmaster welcomed participants to the Educational Committee of the States (ECS) / National Center for Teacher Transformation (NCTT) Workshop on State Partnerships for Quality Teacher Preparation. ECS is an interstate compact of lawmakers dedicated to education policy that improves student learning. The NCTT is a unit of St. Petersburg College.

Later that morning, Burmaster welcomed members of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association to their annual conference. Burmaster noted the importance of their work in schools across the state.

Burmaster also participated in a meeting of the American Diploma Project (ADP)/Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) Leadership teams. ADP and P21 are two national efforts with which Wisconsin is working in order to ensure that our model academic standards, particularly in English language arts and mathematics, are sufficiently rigorous, and sufficiently relevant, to prepare students for postsecondary education and careers.

Later that afternoon, State Superintendent Burmaster met with her Collaborative Council, a group of education leaders from across Wisconsin who work to improve education in the state.

On Sunday, April 13, State Superintendent Burmaster was in Washington, D.C., for the Legislative Conference of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a national group in which she serves as Immediate Past President.

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Last updated on 4/14/2008