This episode focuses on educational equity. It begins with an overview of the issue from Wisconsin Association of School Boards consultants Louise Blankenheim and Dan Nerad. They also talk about specific ways that boards and districts can create more equitable schools. 

Starting at 18:25, we talk to Pa Lee Moua, who is diversity, equity and inclusion officer for Appleton Area School District. We talk about her own story as a refugee and how it affects her ability to communicate with students and community members.

To see the equity statement we discuss and read the 15 questions for school boards about equity and racial justice, visit our site: https://www.wasb.org/about-wasb/regionsdirectors/wasb-equity-statement/

A recording of the July 30 webinar we talk about is here: https://youtu.be/ZFwGxBsQRbw

A number of long-serving female superintendents are retiring. We caught up with three of them to talk about their path to leadership, their lessons learned and how others can follow in their footsteps. 

Title IX, the federal anti-sex discrimination law, is undergoing major changes that affect virtually every school district in the country.

In this episode, we spoke with two WASB attorneys about the changes: Associate Executive Director and Staff Counsel Bob Butler and Staff Counsel Dan Mallin. 

To learn more about the Title IX changes, visit our Hot Policy topics page on this subject.  

In addition, a recording of our July 8 webinar is available here, and the handout is here.

This episode features interviews with three school board members of color, in order: Marilyn Ruffin of Sun Prairie, Gloria Reyes of Madison and Tricia Zunker of Wausau.

To learn more about Sun Prairie’s BEAM Awards, visit its Facebook page.

More information about the book Reyes recommends, “We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom,” is available here.

The Wausau district’s statement about equity and social justice can be found here. Statements from other districts can be found at the WASB’s Boards Taking Action page. Click on the “Racial Injustice” tab.

New school board members often face a steep learning curve. This episode includes three conversations meant to help new members find their footing. 

First, we talk with Bob Butler, WASB associate executive director and staff counsel, about the WASB New School Board Member Handbook.

Then we talk with two veteran board members — Gary Vose of Kettle Moraine and Larry Dux of Pewaukee — who give general advice to new members and explain their work as part of the WASB's Peer Mentoring Program.

Finally, this page provides a good overview of basic resources for new school board members.

This bonus episode comes to us from the Texas Association of School Boards. If you like education podcasts, check out TASB Talks wherever you listen or go to their website. 

This episode is a conversation with Paul A. Johnson, a researcher who studies the connection between school boards and student achievement. We're sharing this now as a complement to an article about school board governance in the May issue of Wisconsin School News.

This episode features an interview with WASB consultant and 43-year education veteran Fran Finco. Learn more about him here.

Learn more about the New Board Member Gathering webinars, which will be held the evenings of April 21, 22 and 23: https://www.wasb.org/meeting-and-events/2020-new-school-board-member-gatherings

If you miss them live, look for the recording at our webinars page. 

Fran also mentioned the New School Board Member Handbook, which can be found here.

Episode 4 of the WASB Connection Podcast focuses on how districts are addressing the teacher shortage by making their districts better places to work. 

First, WASB members can learn more about the issue of teacher retention by downloading this presentation, given before last year's Fall Regional Meetings. 

We'd also appreciate it if listeners could review our podcast on their favorite app and take the survey.

Based on survey feedback, we're including timestamps for different segments so listeners can jump to the area they're interested in. 

This month's legislative update begins at 28:25. Our Legislative Update blog can be found here.

Listeners who'd like to learn more about how stay interviews work can read this story in Wisconsin School News.

This episode covers the 99th annual Wisconsin State Education Convention, held Jan. 22-24 in Milwaukee. Photos are now available online, including one of Southern Door County School District student Luke Bousley (featured at 9:23). A photo of Kettle Moraine High School student Peter Kopperud (featured at 10:50) is here.

This episode features conversations with two Wisconsin State Education Convention speakers. 

The first is Dr. David Schuler, the 2018 Illinois and national Superintendent of the Year. We talked about his district's college, career and life readiness program, which will be the subject of a pre-convention workshop. Learn more here.

We also spoke with Dr. Yong Zhao, the Thursday keynote speaker, about how we can take a more expansive view of educational outcomes.

We also check in with Dan Rossmiller, WASB governmental relations director, to give a brief convention preview of the delegate assembly. We also briefly discuss the Virtual Attendee Access program.