March 2006
These are exciting days
for NAFEPA! In early January, I attended a
strategic planning retreat for members of
the Committee for Educational Funding. The
retreat was very productive, and I came away
with a much better understanding of how our
government operates.
In late January, the Executive Committee
represented NAFEPA at the National Title I
Conference in Dallas, Texas. We had our
NAFEPA booth, and we were able to spend
several hours planning for the future of our
association. It was great seeing so many of
you there.
I was honored to be at a meeting on
February 8 with Assistant Secretary of
Education, Dr. Henry Johnson. Leaders of the
major professional education organizations
were brought together to identify ways we
can work together to build state capacity
around school improvement. I can't begin to
tell you how excited I was to receive the
invitation and to represent you with folks
in state and local education agencies who
have the task of making sure that all
federal education legislation is carried out
effectively.
NAFEPA has been blessed to
have many outstanding people who have served
as leaders and supporters during the past 32
years. With this in mind, the membership
committee recommended that we recognize
individuals who have played a significant
role in the life of NAFEPA. It is my
pleasure to announce our first inductees as
Honorary and Emeritus members of NAFEPA.
Honorary members are those who have
demonstrated an outstanding contribution to
federal education programs and/or NAFEPA.
The first Honorary Members are:
Mary Jean LeTendre, former director
of Title I at the USDE Jack Jennings,
founder of the Center on Educational Policy.
Emeritus Members are retired persons who
were active in the affairs of NAFEPA and who
contributed to the progress of federal
education programs. Our first Emeritus
Members are: Carley Ochoa, former
president of NAFEPA (California and North
Carolina) Iva McCants, first
treasurer of NAFEPA (Mississippi)
Ambrosio Melendrez, former president of
NAFEPA (Texas).
Congratulations to all these fine folks and
to our association for choosing to recognize
them for their contributions.
Very special thanks to Tonya Christianson
who has been writing articles for our
newsletters. Tonya is leaving the law firm
of Brustein and Manasevit and moving to New
York. We wish her and her family well! I am
looking forward to seeing many of you at our
spring conference in Washington, DC on March
26-29, 2006. The conference agenda is
outstanding, and there is no better
opportunity to meet and share with fellow
federal education program administrators
from across the nation. See you in DC!
Bobby Burns, President, NAFEPA
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