Where in the NCE Can You Find AASA Advocacy?
February 26, 2025
Author
We’re looking forward to seeing you in New Orleans for the 2025 National Conference on Education. Sasha, Tara, Kat and I will be on ground for the full conference and we have a series of policy and advocacy related sessions and events—from chronic absenteeism and best practices for utilizing the J-1 visa program to vouchers and school optimization—that we wanted to highlight for you, as you finalize your schedule, along with details on the fun run, our legislative luncheon, and our debut Advocacy Center!
NCE Breakout Sessions Hosted by the AASA Advocacy Team
- Thursday March 6 (10:15-11:15 am) Navigating Federal Funding for School Safety: Strategies for Successful Applications, presented by the Greenlight Grants Initiative. Securing federal funding for school safety requires a clear understanding of available programs, eligibility criteria, and the application process. This session pairs a grant project manager and a school violence prevention researcher to give you ins and outs and tips and tricks for a successful application to commonly used federal funding mechanisms.
- Thursday March 6 (12-1:30 pm, ticketed event) Annual Federal Relations Luncheon featuring Josh Cowan, Professor of Education Policy at Michigan State University, and author of “The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers”, will discuss how vouchers are impacting states budgets and education funding.
- Friday March 7 (8-9 am) Creating the Comeback: Trends, Trajectories, and the Current State of Chronic Absenteeism with Nat Malkus from the American Enterprise Institute.
- Friday March 7 (11:15 – 12:15 pm) AASA 2025 President-Elect Candidate Forum
- Friday March 7 (12:45-1:45 pm) AASA Advocacy Team Federal Update. Join all four of us for a full federal update. We will cover everything that happening’s in DC that impacts education.
- Friday March 7 (2:30 – 3:30 pm) In Best Practices in Leveraging the J-1 Visa Program to Address Staff Shortages a panel of superintendents will share best practices for utilizing the J-1 visa program to address staff shortages.
- Friday March 7 (3:45 to 4:45 pm) Wrap up with Navigating Immigration Policy Changes - What Supts Should Know, with the latest updates on immigration on policy changes and how to prepare to support your students.
Other Ways to Engage:
- Thursday March 6 (6 am) NCE Fun Run/Walk: Join Noelle and the more than 200 NCE attendees registered for the annual Fun Run/Walk, a course that takes you along the New Orleans waterfront. All paces welcome!
- Friday March 7 (8-9 am) Innovative Pathways for Post-Secondary Success: Leveraging Industry and Higher Education Partnerships to Help Each Student Thrive
- Friday March 7 (12:45 – 1:45 pm) AI & District Operations: Explorations and Considerations
- Friday March 7 (3:45 – 4:45 pm) The Small School Challenge: Strategies for Optimizing Student Experience (and Resources) in Low Enrollment Schools
Find us on the trade floor! We are excited to debut the AASA Advocacy Center on the NCE trade floor at Booth 419, giving attendees the opportunity to advocate in real time with their members of Congress, underscoring the importance of public education. We’ll be right next to the social media lounge/bookstore. Don’t miss it: Thursday March 6 (7:30 am to 3:15 pm) and Friday March 7 (11 am – 12:30 pm).
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.
