SIIA Community on the State of the Schools

An Education Community Forum Sponsored by
SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association)

SIIA has created a community on the edWeb to discuss the State of the Schools in the U. S. SIIA leads advocacy efforts on behalf of schools and lobbies with the education agencies on their behalf. Educators are invited to join and speak up so their voices can be heard.

Some of the questions raised in the State of the Schools community are:
* Will U. S. schools innovate or simply survive?
* What are your concerns about ELL programs/funding?
* Has the stimulus money helped?
* What are your concerns about pre-K programs/funding?

The State of the Schools community can help influence the message SIIA brings to policy makers and help uncover issues that may not be adequately addressed. Here is an example of how connecting directly with educators can uncover needs. A teacher wrote:

"From my perspective the biggest problem we have is finding a space/place to teach. Unlike special education, nobody is going to sue our school for not providing an adequate place to learn English. Teacher salaries cost less and are easier to buy than classrooms for teachers to work in. Consequently, ELL teachers in our district work on the floor in noisy hallways, communal areas, closets, and forgotten corners. I wish funding programs designed to help ELLs would address the need for a setting that supports language development, especially listening and speaking. It's difficult to develop oral language in a setting where speech is inhibited or discouraged."

SIIA issues Trend Reports throughout the year and plans to use the edWeb to provide a forum for discussion that can probe deeper into the underlying issues in education and bring in a wider range of viewpoints on critical issues.

The edWeb is supporting SIIA by bringing their message to edWeb members and encouraging members to participate in the discussion. The edWeb features SIIA in an e-newsletter-The edWeb Connection-that reaches a broad audience of K-12 educators.

Join the SIIA community State of the Schools at: http://www.edweb.net/stateofschools

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