With the Education of Texas Children
2007 Texas Charter School Conference Information
Was a huge success!!
The Resource Center for Charter Schools hosted the Eleventh Annual Texas Charter School Conference at the Hilton Austin. Attendees enjoyed the “live music capitol of the world” by being treated to some of the music from our highlighted musical charter schools.
Thanks go out to: The NYOS Choir, The Singing Girls of Texas, The School of Excellence Charter School Choir and The Texas Boys Choir.
Our evening event was held at the beautiful Bob Bullock History Museum where the schools were able to visit the historical and educational exhibits.
Thank you to our 2007 Keynote Speakers:
Kevin Johnson, Founder St. HOPE Public Schools
Kevin or “KJ”, former NBA star who retired after 12 seasons with the Phoenix Suns and received a gold medal in the 1994 World Championship Games, will be our Keynote speaker on Friday morning. Due to his compassion and concern for children and their education, Kevin is the winner of multiple humanitarian awards including the 411th Point of Light, one of the “15 Greatest Men on Earth”, J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship award, and the “Most Caring American” award just to name a few. He is the Chairman of the Board for St. HOPE Academy (SHA) a non-profit community development corporation designed to revitalize inner-city communities through public education, economic development, civic leadership and arts enrichment. He opened his first two charter schools in 2003.
Kevin Chavous, Board Member, National Alliance of Charter Schools
A leading national advocate for school choice, Mr. Chavous helped to shepherd the charter school movement into the District of Columbia. Under his education committee chairmanship, charter schools grew from zero to more than forty schools and 17,000 students in six short years, the highest percentage of charter schools in the country. Mr. Chavous, a prominent African-American Democrat was at the forefront of promoting change within the District Public School system. His efforts on behalf of charter schools earned him the prestigious MAC award in 2000. A noted author, Mr. Chavous authored Serving Our Children: Charter Schools and the Reform of American Public Education. His book represents the first detailed discussion of the charter school movement both in the District of Columbia and around the country and has received praise from policy makers, educators and book critics.
Nelson Smith, President, National Alliance of Charter Schools
Nelson Smith, a nationally recognized expert on charter schools and education policy, is the President of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. His experience includes senior management positions at the U.S. Department of Education, the D.C. Public Charter School Board, the New York City Partnership, and most recently at New American Schools, where he served as Vice President for Policy and Governance. In 2002, he was appointed by Education Secretary Rod Paige as one of 21 negotiators who developed federal regulations for the No Child Left Behind Act.
Morgan Brown, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Department of Education
Morgan Brown was appointed as the Department's assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement by Secretary Margaret Spellings on July 6, 2006. In his post, he leads ED's efforts to support innovations in education and make strategic investments in promising education practices, most importantly implementing the public school choice and supplemental educational services provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). He oversees the administration of 28 grant programs related to education improvement, school choice, teacher quality, technology, and arts in education. Prior to joining the Department, Brown worked for three years as the director of the Division of School Choice and Innovation for the Minnesota Department of Education. There, he supervised a staff of 20 and oversaw 25 programs related to school choice, charter schools, nonpublic school options, voluntary integration, supplemental educational services, American Indian Education and postsecondary scholarships.
Representative Rob Eissler (TX)
Rob Eissler is the President of Eissler and Associates, an executive recruiting firm based in his hometown of twenty-five years, The Woodlands, Texas. He received a B.A. in Architecture from Princeton University, and then served his country as a carrier-based attack pilot on the USS John F. Kennedy in the United States Navy.
Representative Eissler has spent twenty-two years dedicated to the public education system of Texas. Mr. Eissler was elected to represent District 15 as State Representative in November of 2002. In his third session, he was appointed to serve as Chairman of the Public Education Committee. He also serves on the Human Services Committee. Since serving in the legislature, Representative Eissler has been named Legislator of the Year by the Texas Council of Special Education Administrators, among other numerous awards received He was listed as Honorable Mention in Texas Monthly magazine's Ten Best Legislators issue.
We also thank Gail Lowe from the SBOE and John Pitts for their insightful speeches.
Attendees benefited from the knowledge and enthusiasm from the following speakers.
Concurrent Session Presenters and Presentation Teams
Dahlinda Alaniz Angie Anastasio Iris Burnham Dan Baen Sue Beasley Sherrill Burge Jose Cantu Jaime Capelo Brian Carpenter Rita Chase Jonas Chartock Heather Christie Debbie Constable Kimberly Cook Debbie Crinzi Jane Ellis Teresa Elliot Cathey George Brooks Garber Sheila Grant Jennifer Goodman Lindy Haley Deborah Havens Michael Greenwalt Deborah Havens Dina Hernandez Lori Hernandez Scott Huse Karen L. Johnson Andi Kuyatt Gary Larson Lilie Elizondo-Limas Scott Lewis David Loseke Monica Martinez Nori Mora Ramon Medina
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Priscilla Oebel HM Motsinger Denise Nance Pierce Michael Pearce Nancy Rinehart Barbara Purcell Steve Saltzman Marisol Rodriguez Dawn Schuenemann Jeff Rogers Terri Smith Dawn Schuenemann Robert Schulman Nelson Smith Joel Trudeau Jim Thompson Tom Torkelson Scott Trudeau Dorothy White Cari Wieland Jeannie Williams Mary Helen Nunez Wallace Success Solutions The Math Learning Center I-Cap by JR3 Wachovia ESC Region 2 WebSmart by JR3 Willis CAPS-Pooling Practice Heartbeeps Firelight, L.L.C. First Financial Capital Corportation CharterSafe Texas Department of Agriculture Educational Options, Inc. |
Thank you to our sponsors
The Next Step**Feldman and Rogers, L.L.P.**
McNeil Educational Leadership**Kellogg’s
We hope you all enjoyed the conference. For any comments or suggestions please e-mail katiehowell@charterstexas.org