NABSE CONFERENCE 2009

Inaugural Address to NABSE
Carrol A. Thomas, Ed. D.
NABSE President

One score and 17 years ago, our forefathers committed to improved educational opportunities for African American children by bringing forth on this continent a new organization, conceived in hope and dedicated to the fact that all youth can and must learn.

Unlike the time when one of my favorite presidential addresses was made by Abraham Lincoln, we are not in the midst of the civil war at the battle of Gettysburg, however, we are in the thick of the battle for education as a civil right. We are fighting to regain, maintain and develop civil rights for America's youth, especially those of African American de-scent.

I thank each you who have charged and challenged me as the leader for the next two years, and NABSE as a whole, to make a positive impact on our nation in relationship our battle for the civil right to a quality education. Our plan of attack is found with in the strategies outlined by President Obama's five pillars of education. With your support, NABSE will make its mark in making sure our youth can compete in a global society. With your help, NABSE will contribute to developing a WORLD - CLASS education system. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Yet, in a larger sense, we can not do what we need to do without first strengthening NABSE as an organization. We can not improve the world, improve our nation or make a serious impact on the education of our youth if we ourselves as an organization can't better reach out to the hundreds of thousands of educators who teach African Americans.

Most of you have expressed and made it known that NABSE should be doing one thing or another to improve itself and to be more effective in achieving its vision, mission and goals. You are absolutely correct. We should be doing more. The bottom line is that NABSE does not have the funding, sufficient staff or the quality of facility to do many of the things you and I both know our wonderful organization should be doing.

The first step requires that NABSE becomes financially strong. I am asking you to support efforts for NABSE to capitalize on opportunities to improve and strengthen NABSE financially:

• Number 1: Work to increase NABSE's membership by committing to recruit at least one person to join by January 31, 2010. If you are an administrator, commit to getting at least 5 persons to join by then. If you are a superintendent, make sure your district is a member and recruit at least two more districts to join NABSE. I challenge you to go even further by encouraging and making it easier for other educators join NABSE via a payroll deduction program.
  
  We all recognize that NABSE is getting older. Many of us, including me, are heading into our golden years. We must reach out to not only develop young professionals who are interested in this rewarding and fulfilling career of professional educators, but we must also embrace the young professionals who are working in education today. From the board level to committees and general membership, we MUST involved the professionals who are in their 20s, 30s and 40s. If we don't, we as an organization will surely lose the battle and the war for education as a civil right.
  
  
• Number 2: Work to increase attendance at all future NABSE conferences. We will be in Fort Worth, Texas, for the 38th annual NABSE conference. I am asking each of you to commit to joining me next November for the best conference ever. Additionally, please commit to recruiting at least one other educator to join us in Texas where I will work diligently to get entertainer Beyonce`, the flyjock Tom Joyner, Astronaut Mae Jemison, Bishop T.D. Jakes and a host of other famous Texans to join us. In addition to you committing to join us in Texas, please commit to recruit at least one more person who is not here this year to join us at the conference next year.
  
  
• Number 3: While NABSE's operational budget is derived from funds generated through memberships, sponsorships and conference fees, we have had success in developing some targeted programs. We have seen success in a number of programs, including the conference for young black males. The first exemplary superintendents' leadership summit was held in Chicago last June. Some 40 of the nation's top African American superintendents convened to tap into a wealth of resources to help us maximize on leadership opportunities for better school district operations. Voyager Learning with Aramark and Dikita fully underwrote the summit. This coming spring, 2010, the ExxonMobil Foundation has committed to underwriting a NABSE hosted seminar for educational leaders in math and science to help our students gain grounds in what is currently one of our weakest academic fronts. I ask those of you who have relationships with or who are a part of major corporations to share information about the opportunities that exist for corporations to achieve many of their own goals by partnering with NABSE to underwrite or sponsor special programs and projects.
  
  Many of you do business with companies and organizations on a regular basis who have clearly committed to supporting other educational associations. It is incumbent upon us to ask those businesses for whom we spend millions and billions of dollars with to show their support for NABSE and the noble work we have before us.
  
  
• Number 4: Garnering grants, both competitive and non-competitive, from private and federal funding opportunities, must be at the top of our list. Grants will help us expand our three-person staff to one sufficient to handle the multitude of functions needed to bring about a most effective NABSE.
  
  
• Number 5: Our NABSE home, the headquarters in Washington, D.C., is located on prime property near Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, it is in grave need of major maintenance, improvements and renovation. We have to garner funds to protect and secure our home front.
  
  
• Finally, expected increased and improved communications from your NABSE on the hot educational issues of the day as well as the many concerns we have as we battle through the challenges blocking our kids from a world class education, one that is no doubt, their civil right.

Beyond these immediate financial concerns of NABSE as an organization, I urge each of you to join me responding to the five pillars of education as outlined by our nation's president. Without a buy-in from black educators, black parents and black students, our nation will continue to be challenged in competing in a global economy. Let us all do our part and go above and beyond in helping America create a world - class education system. Early childhood initiatives; better standards and assessments; recruiting, preparing and rewarding outstanding teachers; promoting innovation and excellence and providing quality higher education are pillars that will shore up our nation's education system. The NABSE leadership is 100 percent behind President Obama in these efforts and we hope you are, too.

Since the Gettysburg Address was delivered in about two minutes, my time at the microphone should end. I leave you with the charge to ask not what NABSE can do for you, but ask what can do for your NABSE.

It is for us here today to carry on and finish the work started by our founding fathers. Let us highly resolve that this organization founded by black educators on behalf of educators and the students entrusted to our wisdom will thrive and not perish.