Here is the speech I delivered when I was installed as the President of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA): I want to thank you all for your support. Thank you to all delegates. Thank you ACSA staff. Thank you to all of my colleagues. Thank you to all the teachers of the world. And thank you to the thousands of students and their parents who have touched my life in such positive ways. I am truly blessed by all of you. So, here we are, ready to continue the supportive work of ACSA. We hear too much how we are failing our students. I don’t buy it. I’ll tell you why. I’ve worked with you. Think about it. Look around you. Look at the people in this room and think about the people you have worked with in your career. You’re great. So are the vast majority of the people we have worked with over the years. You do everything you can every day to lift the academic abilities of our children. So do our colleagues. We are not in the business of lifting students out of poverty. We couldn’t do that with twice or ten times the resources currently allocated to us by our State and Federal lawmakers. The business we are in is to provide an excellent education opportunity for as many students as we can with what we have. We maintain the goal of providing that excellent education opportunity for all students. We/you do the best we can with what we/you have so that they can become whatever they dream. We plant the seed. We fertilize the seed, sometimes too much. I always wonder if I’ve gone too far when I see the crowd heading for their waders. And every experienced gardener knows that too much fertilizer burns. We nurture that seed so it can grow. By lifting the academic abilities of our students, we provide them the tools they need to lift themselves into a great life situation. The vast majority of the people I have worked with over the past 30 years are, first and foremost smart. They are intelligent, hard working and caring people who, as I have witnessed time and time again, step up to the plate and do everything they can with what they have to lift students in an extremely heroic manner. In our wakes there are doctors, lawyers, engineers, chefs, musicians, artists of all types and the list goes on. We need to support their efforts. They need more resources of every type, people, cash, support for continued learning, and time to study their practice during their work day. These are the things I hope to continue improving on this journey as your ACSA President. Juntos, Si Se Puede. Together, yes we can. No te des por vencido. Never give up. So how could it be true that we have done a bad job? The truth is, we did the job as we did the job during our time in the job. The judgment of whether our work was good or bad is not relevant. What is relevant is that we continue on the quest to improve the work we do so the outcomes for all students are improved. When my time as President is over, the judgment of how we did the job will not be relevant. We will have done the job the way we did the job during our time. The people who follow me will do the job the as they do the job during their time. We are all merely building on the giants who came before us. Giants like Ferd Keisel, Dick Cooper, Emma Hulett, Carrol Knipe, David Brown, Sandy Clifton, Lilly Cambell, Don Iglesias, Larry Aceves, Sonny Dimarto, Henry Bietz, Tony Hyland, Bob Lee, Frank Gomez (remember his gigantic smile?), Chuck Weis, Bob Noyes, Alice Petrossian, David Gomez, and Marc Ecker to name a few. To join this group of the finest people is truly an honor, and I thank you all for your support, your work, your friendship and for your lifting of all students. Thank you. I am currently in my third year of law school. I plan to continue the work of supporting educators as an attorney. As a current student, I am keenly aware of what our students are headed for. Because my program is on line, I am getting first hand knowledge of what it takes to be an on line student. Those of you with my experience know that on line learning is a viable option and not easy to do well. In this position, you have granted me the privilege of voice, the privilege of being heard. My promise to you is that I will take great care with this power and use every word in support of your efforts on behalf of our students. Thank you for your faith and trust in me. I am humbled, honored and committed to doing a great job for you to support you doing a great job for your students. Please check in with me often and let me hear your ideas regarding how we can work so that ACSA better supports your work so all of our students will benefit. Last year, Lisa Andrew was ACSA’s Valuing Diversity State Award Winner. In her acceptance speech she challenged us to act for higher levels of equality for all students. As I heard her challenge, I struggled to understand what that meant. I have always been a personal responsibility and pull your boot straps up and get to work kind of guy. It was a group of my parents that helped me understand what Lisa was challenging us to do. I fully understood what I saw as a child and student. That every time I needed to pull up my bootstraps, there was someone there lending me a helping hand. I witnessed that was not the case for my peers who did not look like me. When they needed help over a wall, in fact, they had someone pulling them back by their shirts where I had people putting their hands together to help lift me over the wall. I was mulling this issue over with a group of my dedicated parents. I was presenting the theme of personal responsibility and pulling up your bootstraps as a solution to the ills we are experiencing when one mother said to me, “Randy, if they don’t have boot straps, for whatever reason, they can’t pull them up.” Her words hit me as an important issue. It brought a stark realization to me and her words helped me understand fully what Lisa was challenging us to do last November. Her words provided me with a direction for next year as your president. I will work to ensure that all students have boot straps to pull up so that every student can take advantage of the fantastic educational opportunities you provide for them. The idea of ensuring that all students have boot straps will guide how we support your work in this coming year. In closing, I am proud to be at the helm of the Association of California School Administrators. ACSA is filled with good-hearted, caring individuals who put students first ahead of themselves. I am impressed by the “can do” attitude that you all exhibit all the time. I am honored to call myself your colleague and your president. Be grateful for what you have. Think of what you are grateful for each day. Lead with love, especially for those who vex you for it’s a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder. Thank you Jack Moscowitz. You asked me to join.
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 03:36:46 +0000
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