EdVANTAGE Blog

New State Education Commissioner David Steiner spoke at the Council’s Fall Leadership Summit on Monday – his third weekday on the job. We’re grateful to the State Education Department for sharing a video of the Commissioner’s remarks, and to Monroe I BOCES for making the video.

You can view it here.  It takes a minute or so to load.

Every superintendent I spoke with was impressed by the Commissioner’s remarks.  I thought his words had depth, coherence, and eloquence.

Some highlights follow.

• The Commissioner said of superintendents, “You are crucial leaders of our schools. I can think of no more important gathering than that before me this afternoon.”

• He acknowledged a letter we sent him outlining hopes and concerns of superintendents and said he was particularly taken by the letter’s reference to “the practical perspectives of superintendents” and that phrase’s implied consideration of not only means and ends, but also values and vision.

• He described his ultimate commitment: “The provision of an outstanding education to each and every student in this state matters equally and matters absolutely. It matters no more and no less than that.”

• He added, “If a reasonable review of the evidence shows that a policy, a regulation, a budgetary decision or a set of pre-existing beliefs fails to further that commitment, then together we must do everything possible to replace that policy, change that regulation, rethink that budget, and revise our beliefs.”

• He offered thoughts about standards, assessments, teaching and curriculum.

• The Commissioner concluded describing a vision of education which goes beyond preparing young people for college or work, but extends to, “opening windows” which can lead them to value learning for its own sake:

On any given day, in any classroom, in each and every one of your districts, a window may open for a child.

There is no greater responsibility than your responsibility for enabling that end, that vision, that value.

It takes real work. It takes real work on the part of all of us – of teachers, of parents, of prinicipals, of district leaders such as yourselves – of all of us in the maelstrom of every day struggle to match our budgets to reality, to worry about compliance, to do this and to do that and to do the other and to remember that for a child, a single act of discovery, of imagination may change a life.

It is because all of us are engaged in that pursuit that I welcome you to this extraordinary adventure of education and that I am honored to be with you and honored to listen to you.

You can read our letter to the Commissioner here.  It was prepared with extensive suggestions from our Delegates.

The Commissioner also recommended an article on learning standards which I cited in our blog as striking a sensible balance between content and skills.  Here is a direct link to the article.

The Commissioner did respond to questions, but we do not have video of that portion of his time with us.