As I begin my third year on the USD 497 Board of Education, I am excited about the improvements our district has accomplished in our quest to teach all children well.  Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) testing will help us identify academic strengths and weaknesses of our students so we can attack the things that keep the student from reaching his/her potential.  We have improved our compensation in the district for certified teachers and classified staff.  We have stabilized the health insurance premiums for our staff and the district.  We continue to bring more and more of our schools up to the standards of excellence in our state assessment tests.

Comparing today with my teaching career in USD 497, we do so much more in discovering where each child is in the learning continuum, and then devising strategies to guarantee that the student is moving forward in his/her learning plan.

We all need to put pressure on the Kansas Legislature to adequately fund education. Having been a part of the lobbying community for more than 20 years, I know how legislators can get complacent after appropriating funds to a certain program.  We can’t let them get comfortable as much greater funding will be needed in the future.

My son is a sophomore at Pittsburg State, and my wife and I have appreciated the good education provided to him by the professional educators in the Lawrence schools.  Both of us are educators (she substitutes in the district) and understand the many hurdles before us as we continue to strive for excellence.

My goals are simply stated, but may be hard to achieve:

1. Continue to improve salaries and other benefits (especially retirement benefits) for professional educators to attract and retain the top educators in the state;
2. Improve communication between the board and the teachers, the community and the legislators; and
3. Continue to show improvement in our students’ achievement.

I hope that you, as a patron of USD 497, will communicate your thoughts and ideas as to how we can continue to improve. We will try to listen and respond to concerns and feedback that we receive from the public.

Craig Grant