We have just finished our first annual conference in Detroit, and I must say what a conference it was. MSBO set a record for conference attendance with 950 members registered. From everything I could observe, the conference was a resounding success. Cobo Center proved to be a great venue, the Marriott provided great accommodations, and I did not hear any negative comments from any one. Your MSBO Board of Directors and MSBO staff will conduct a thorough debriefing of the event in the coming months and make some decisions about whether to return to Detroit in the future.
Wednesday’s keynote speaker, Erik Wahl not only entertained the audience with his paintings; he also gave some uplifting comments and positive reinforcement to help us cope in today’s difficult environment. Erik’s “Art of Vision” tells us that nothing is impossible and that creativity is the key to problem solving. In fact, creativity is a learned skill, and once we learn how to be creative, we will be able to perform our jobs and meet the myriad of daily issues that our jobs demand.
Erik told us not to stifle our creative side and asked us how better will we be if we tap the creative side of our brain? This is very reminiscent of the right brain, left brain arguments that we have all heard for years. Because we are the “number crunchers” of our districts, we have been trained to rely on our left brain or analytical side. This has served all of us well, and none of us would be successful otherwise, but we have to remember that we also have a creative side that is equally important. There is no doubt that by now we are all reeling with news of a potential $559 per pupil shortfall in the School Aid Fund for the 2010-11 school year, and we have all run the financial projections to see what our financial position will be in two years. If you are like me, you are scratching your head and wondering how are we going to be able to balance our budgets, and what more can we possibly cut from budgets that have already been trimmed to the bone. The left side of our brain has kicked in overtime, but maybe we tap into the right side for answers. Perhaps the entire education industry and legislature has to use its collective right brain for answers. To quote the last paragraph of the Senate Fiscal Agency’s report, “The Governor’s and the Legislature’s ability to meet this challenge likely will set the stage for a State budget in future fiscal years that looks very different from the budget currently in place.”
Statements such as these almost force us to look at alternative ways to provide the services that our constituents, the taxpayers demand of us. Erik told us not to compete with other schools, but to break through the barriers and change the landscape of public education. When I read the reports coming out of the May 15 Revenue Estimating Conference, I sometimes feel like the perfect storm is brewing and will hit in the 2010/11 school year. Will this be the year when all of us are forced to be creative and, as Erik said, look for unconventional solutions in a conventional world?
I realize that talking about creativity and actually seeking creative solutions to old problems are two different things, but we must start thinking differently, and we cannot do it alone. At Thursday’s business meeting I challenged everybody to contact a colleague, get together, and engage in some common problem solving. After all, we are all facing the same issues, and it is easier to meet the challenges together than on your own. I hope that if you have not already done so, you are planning to get together with your peers in the near future in the spirit of my “together we can” theme.
My thoughts keep going back to the ideas that Erik put forth as he was doing his “Art of Vision” for us. He told us that we need to break through preconceived barriers and that we are capable of so much more than we have pre-programmed ourselves to expect. Let us remember these words of wisdom as we prepare ourselves to meet the challenges of the future.
