Manchester BOE President Represents NJ at National School Boards Assembly

Manchester Township Board of Education President and NJ School Boards Association Vice President for Finance, Donald Webster, Jr., represented NJ school districts as a voting delegate to the annual National School Boards Association (NSBA) Delegate Assembly and Convention held in Boston, MA on April 19-23. The trip was made at no cost to the school district. 

Webster heard presentations from CNN news anchor and special correspondent, Soledad O’Brien, who talked about the value of education in her life and the discrimination she faced as a mixed race child growing up in America; Sal Khan of the Khan Academy, creator of a free online public education platform, who spoke about the value of the internet in transforming the delivery of public education; and Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc, a Charter School Program in New York City that has garnered some national acclaim, who talked about how his organization has been successful in educating urban youth in NYC.

Webster also attended a program on model staff evaluation programs presented by the Dublin, Ohio BOE.  “I thought I was still in NJ when I heard their presentation.  They are going trough the same process that NJ is with respect to state mandated evaluations of school staff and they are facing many of the same struggles we are in figuring out how best to do it,” he said.  He also attended a program on social media and the practical use of these communication media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in school districts. 

The inauguration of Edward Massey from Boone County Kentucky as the new National President of NSBA for 2012-2013 and the election of David Pickler from Tennessee as the President-Elect of NSBA for 2013-2014 also took place at the assembly.

“All in all,” Webster said, “this national event was informative and provided additional insight into the growing concerns and issues that are affecting the delivery of public education in our country today.”