5th Leader in District’s 7 Years but 1st in the Nation: Profile of National Superintendent of Year®

When business leader Roy Bibb sat down for lunch with the new leader of the Bibb County School District in Macon, Ga., he wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, Curtis L. Jones Jr. had spent 20 years as an Army officer, topping out at lieutenant colonel, before embarking on a new career in public education.
School District’s Alignment Work Brings Major Progress, Superintendent Reports
It only takes one plan to align a school district to be successful. During his session “What Does it Mean to be An Aligned School District” on Thursday at the AASA National Conference on Education, the superintendent of the Mountain View Whisman School District in Mountain View, Calif., discussed the impact alignment had on his community.
VIDEO: School Safety and Security (1:59)

Nearly 20 companies in the AASA conference’s exhibit hall are promoting services and tools for addressing school security and student and staff safety.
Fighting Off the Push for District Consolidation Documented by Panel of Rural School Leaders
When Jay H. Burkhart, superintendent of the South Western School District in Hanover, Pa., asked attendants of an AASA panel who was faced with a potential school district merger, more than two-thirds raised their hand.
Odds and Ends About Curtis Jones Jr.
Editor’s Note: A series of short human interest stories about the newly named National Superintendent of the Year®, Curtis Jones Jr. of Macon, Ga.
Former National Security Adviser Calls on Conference Attendees, at 1st General Session, to Strengthen Democracy

Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice is looking to superintendents and teachers to stop what she fears may be a weakening of American democracy.
Seen & Heard Around the Conference
Prize-Winning EssayistTodd Dugan is in his first year as superintendent of Bunker Hill Community School District 8 in Bunker Hill, Ill., and he’s also a first-rate essayist.
VIDEO: Ember Conley on Opioid Crisis (1:54)

Superintendent Ember Conley shared ideas on dealing with the opioid crisis as it affects school-age children.
Darling-Hammond: Testing Won’t Make America No. 1 in Education

If America wants to be the world leader in education, then it should look to other countries as a model for success, says Linda Darling-Hammond, a leading educational researcher, in her Thought Leader session Thursday at the AASA national conference.
Well-Equipped Homegrown Teachers the Object of Phi Delta Kappa Training Regimen

Teaching in America no longer is an idealized profession. Factors such as low pay and the lack of professional respect have resulted in a shortage of qualified teachers across the country.