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State revenue forecast declines by $377.5 million
Thursday, August 26, 2010

The September state general fund revenue forecast, released this morning, has declined by $377.5 million.

In response, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and legislative leaders have announced they intend to rebalance the state budget with across-the-board cuts, rather than convening a special legislative session.  K-12’s share of those cuts would be approximately $150 million, but the governor and legislative leaders have pledged to keep K-12 funding at the level promised in June.  They will do so by utilizing $118 million in recent federal education jobs assistance, and by pledging an additional $34 million of state reserve funds when the legislature convenes in February.

School districts and ESDs can use the most recent (July 12) SSF estimate to determine anticipated total resources for 2010-11.  However, a portion of that money will now come from the federal jobs funding.

Schools and ESDs will also be affected by across-the-board cuts to state agencies, including ODE.  With nine months remaining in the biennium, those cuts will amount to reductions of about 8 percent for each agency.

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Time to nominate colleagues for two OASE awards
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Each year, OASE members are recognized for two awards: Superintendent of the Year and Excellence in Curriculum Leadership.  Nominations are now open for both awards.

To be eligible for the Superintendent of the Year Award, the nominee must be an active superintendent, with plans to continue in the position; it is not intended to recognize a retiree.  Additionally, that person should have a current membership with OASE and AASA.  To encourage participation, candidates will complete all sections of the application, except the essay questions, for the first round of judging.  Once the winner is selected, that person will then complete the essay portion of the application.  With this procedure, it is possible for a colleague to complete the initial form.

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Fall Special Education Conference focuses on Scaling Up
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The 2010 COSA/ODE Fall Conference for Special Education Administrators is set for Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the Eugene Hilton.  The theme of the conference is “Knowing What Works to Doing What Works.”  The keynote presenter will be Dr. Dean Fixsen from the University of North Carolina, who is co-director of the National Implementation Research Network and of the State Implementation and Scaling up Evidence-based Practices Center.  Register today.

Critical updates and guidance from ODE’s Office of Student Learning and Partnerships will be presented in the strand areas of:  General Supervision; Significant Disproportionality; IEP Facilitation; Transition; Data; Assessment; Scaling Up; Discipline; Legal Compliance; Charter Schools, Online Schools, and Private Schools; and more.

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Federal education jobs bill expected to be approved
Thursday, August 05, 2010

A measure to provide $26 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments -- including $10 billion to prevent education job losses -- cleared a U.S. Senate procedural hurdle yesterday morning, and is expected to be approved today.

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COSA begins transition to new website and membership software
Thursday, July 29, 2010

by Craig Hawkins, Communications Director

COSA is embarking today on what feels, at least to COSA staff, as a pretty daring transition to new website and membership software.

This transition feels daring, in part, because, in these difficult economic times, we are endeavoring to enhance and augment online services to COSA members without spending additional resources.  This requires a dedicated staff that isn’t afraid to plunge headlong into a steep learning curve.  Fortunately, our professional team and support staff are always ready for a challenge – especially a challenge that, when mastered, will result in improved services to our members. 

So, our support staff members, along with our professional team, are hard at work, learning the new software, building new webpages, converting data, and so on.  All the while, those same support staff members are continuing to do the things they have always done – registering members for conferences and events, renewing memberships, taking your phone calls, answering your e-mails, and so on.  We want to publicly thank them – Betsy and Carmy and Debbie and Derrick and Joanne and Sera and Sue – for their hard work.

This transition to new website software will occur over a period of months.  It isn’t likely to be without a few fits and starts.  But we are committed to delivering new tools and resources to our members.  We are motivated to:

  • Empower you to manage your own information as a COSA member – from changing your title to updating your address to correcting the name that appears on your badge at COSA conferences and events. 
  • Provide you with the tools to track your professional development, including education credits and PDUs, through our website. 
  • Assure that certain information and resources, including reduced member rates for COSA professional development events, are available exclusively to COSA members. 
  • Create a private COSA online community, where members can engage each other in secure professional discussions ...
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