By Wanny Hersey
Superintendent/Principal at Bullis Charter School
At this week’s California Charter School Association’s conference in San Jose, I was delighted that our entire teaching faculty was able to attend on Tuesday. This was a unique professional development opportunity that our teachers took full advantage of - from attending sessions about differentiation and blended learning, to meeting and being inspired by leaders in the charter school movement.
The conference began with a keynote address from Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix and longtime charter advocate. Reed spoke about the importance of continuing to affect change in public education, even though it feels slow and arduous at times. In his speech, he emphasized the critical importance for charters to have non-elected school boards as a way of supporting an organization’s mission and providing sustained leadership, instead of an elected school board that creates frequent turnover and conflicting political agendas. I agree with Reed 100%, and was glad to also have several of our board members attend the conference with me this week.
While we were at the conference - united with thousands of charter school advocates and becoming even more inspired about the work that we do - across the country New York Mayor Bill Di Blasio made the appalling decision to shut down four charter schools, affecting over 700 students enrolled in some of the most successful charters in the area. It was a strong reminder for all of us how important it is to stay focused on showing what is possible in public education, despite any opposition we may face.
One way we can all help show our support through social media, is by sharing the highlights and benefits of charter schools using the hash tag #charterswork when you are sharing positive posts about Bullis Charter School. You can also go to our Facebook and Twitter pages to share and re-tweet directly from there.
