Dear Superintendents,

Congratulations to election winners across our state and nation. Governor-Elect Gordon mentioned his desire to support education and stable education funding during his acceptance speech on Tuesday night. He served on the Johnson County School Board for a number of years. Personally, I am thrilled to continue my service to the state for another four years. I look forward to working with the new governor and with both new and seasoned members of the legislature.

Education, as always, was a topic of campaigns nationwide. Election outcomes will impact state education governance in many state legislatures, state education agencies, and in the U.S. Congress. The Education Commission of the States tracked elections with an education lens and the outcome is depicted in the infographic below.

Education Commission of the States. 2018 Elections. Changes in state education leadership. Governors: 36 states plus D.C. held Governors races resulting in 16 democrats (11 new, 5 incumbent) and 19 Republican Governors (8 new, 11 incumbent). Of the 50 state governors, 23 are democrats and 26 are republicans with some races still being decided. In Legislative Chambers, 87 elections were held. Democrats gained control in six states: Colorado senate, Connecticut senate, Maine senate, Minnesota house, and New Hampshire house and senate. Democrats now control 37 chambers and Republicans control 61. Seven states held elections for Chief State School Officers, resulting in a new democratic chief in Arizona and a new Democratic chief in California. Republican incumbents were reelected in Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wyoming. Eight states plus the District of Columbia held elections for State Boards of Education, with 40 seats up for election, resulting in 21 new and 19 incumbent board members. Thanks to NGA, NCSL, CCSSO, and NASBE for their collaboration.

Educator Training

Despite the cold weather educators continue to gather for training opportunities. This week:

  • WDE partnered with community colleges and Canvas to host the annual Innovations Conference in Evanston
  • Jan Hoegh led the New Art and Science of Teaching training in Casper
  • 25 school leadership teams participated in the first Leadership Coaching Academy session this week and focused on developing a Culture of Collaboration and Ensuring that Students Learn – two of the “big ideas” that represent the core principles of Professional Learning Communities.

The State Superintendent’s Policy Summit (S5S) is being restructured to provide training on the 25 components of Wyoming Accreditation. It will not be held during the 2019 legislative session as in the past. Information on the 2019 S5S will be shared at a later date.

A trainer from Canvas speaks from a podium while the dashboard is displayed on a projector screen for attendees to follow along.

Training on the Canvas platform was offered in advance of this week’s Innovations Conference

Memo to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2018:

Jillian

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