The Advocate February 2024: Advocacy at NCE!

AASA’s advocacy team invites you to journey with them into the weeds of federal education policy at the national conference in San Diego. From AI in schools to a round up of all regulations you need to know – there’s a wide range of content for those interested in how the federal government intersects with K-12 issues.

On Thursday, February 15, start your day at 10:15a.m. with a session on How to Leverage Federal Dollars to Improve Your School Facilities, presented by UnDauntedK12. This session will provide step-by-step instructions how to utilize new, ten-year, non-competitive funding under the Inflation Reduction Act to install modern, clean energy technologies in your schools. If you would rather focus on something more enigmatic, head over to Part One on AI in Schools: Bridging Policy, Innovation Practices and Measuring Impact for Districts led by AASA’s Chief Innovation Officer Andrew Ko.   

(If you're feeling really ambitious, you can actually kick off your day at 6a.m. with Advocacy's own Noelle Ellerson Ng and her annual Fun Run/Walk. More details and registration here.) 

During the annual Federal Relations Luncheon at noon, Cara Fitzpatrick, Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist, Story Editor, and Author will discuss her new book “The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America”, which traces the long and turbulent history of school privatization.

Then save the best for the last session of the day: the Federal Education Policy Update from the full AASA Advocacy Team at 2:15p.m.. Noelle, Sasha, Tara and Kat will present the latest and greatest information from Washington, D.C. beginning with funding and legislative updates from Congress and moving on to recent regulations and guidance issued by USED as well as the various federal policy issues percolating at USDA, FCC, FTC and many other federal agencies. This is a must-attend session for those who are concerned about federal education matters and who want to stay engaged with AASA’s advocacy work.

On Friday, Feb. 16, kick off the day with an early morning session on how to leverage a registered apprenticeship to build your principal pipeline. A panel of superintendents, joined by David Donaldson from the National Grow Your Own Network, will share their experiences with using this relatively new program to address a persistent issue of staff shortages.

Wrap up the day at 2:30p.m. with Part Two of the AI in Schools discussion. This session will focus on bridging the gap between policy and practice, and talk through how to shape your district’s strategies in the age of AI in schools.

You can follow the goings-on of the advocacy team and the conference’s policy sessions on the AASA blog and by following @AASAdvocacy and the advocacy team on Twitter: Noelle Ellerson (@Noellerson), Sasha Pudelski (@SPudelski), Kat Sturdevant (@K_Sturdevant) and Tara Thomas (@TaraEThomas1). Or you can always follow along by downloading the AASA Advocacy app, available on the App Store and Google Play.