Itta Bena, MS, Nov. 13, 2008 — First they spent the day talking some serious stuff, then they par-tayed. 500 students, parents, educators and public officials from more than 20 counties in the Delta region came together at the MS Valley State University campus on Nov. 13 for a one-day celebration of the past 5 years of work together to impact state education policy in the effort to build a quality public education accessible to all children.
This conference was the 5th and final gathering in the series that begin in 2004 as a partnership of Southern Echo and the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable with the MS Dept. of Education and MS Valley State University.
The conference focused on assessments of the successes, limitations and lessons learned from the collaboration to impact education policies concerning full funding of the MS Adequate Education Program, enhanced funding for children at-risk, dropout prevention and graduation rates, the use of state and local budgets to control education policy and the central importance of effective engagement of parents and students in policy formation and implementation at the local school district level. (more…)
