z42\doc\web\2000\06\romer.txt
Date sent:      	Wed, 07 Jun 2000 07:57:07 +0000
From:           	Terry Olive 
Subject:        	ROMER IS NEW L.A. SUPT.




Roy Romer is the new superintendent of the Los Angeles School District.


Romer was on the commissions which pushed in GOALS 2000, etc. (see
below).
He was Gov. of Colorado at the time Gates Foundation executive Tom
Vander Ark lived there.  As a new supt. in 1994, Tom hit the ground
running in Federal Way with an agenda which mirrored that of Romer and his
associates.     Terry


Background:


In January 1997, Romer was elected to serve as general chairman of the
Democratic National Committee.


Romer has served as national vice chair of the Democratic Leadership
Council, and was a national co-chairman of the Clinton-Gore '96
campaign. In 1992, he was co-chairman of the Democratic National
Platform Committee. He chaired the Democratic Governors' Association in
1991.


Romer chaired the EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES in 1994-95, and
served on the Bipartisan Commission for the Reform of Entitlements in
1993-94.


In 1992-93, he served as chair of the NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION, and
remains on the organization's executive committee. In 1995, Romer was part
of a bipartisan effort by the nation's governors to reform Medicaid.


A NATIONAL LEADER IN EDUCATION POLICY, Romer chaired the NATIONAL
EDUCATION GOALS PANEL, focusing its work on preparing our youngest
children for school. As that panel's first chairman in the early 1990s, he
was responsible for helping develop the first national education report
card. Romer is now co-vice chairman of ACHIEVE, an effort by the nation's
governors and major corporate leaders to reform education by the use of
standards and assessments [Washington is a member]. In 1996, he was
awarded the prestigious Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education. Romer,
along with Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, is leading the development


of the Western Governors' University, an innovative, "virtual
university," which will be available to people throughout the Western
United States. ---------------------------------------- In 1990, the
Education Commission of the States and the National Governors Association
developed "A Road Map for Restructuring Schools", a list of principles of
restructuring and steps for policy makers to use.  The "Road Map" was a
result of two regional workshops to discuss strategies for redesigning
state education systems to met national performance goals.  Excerpts
follow: (Does this sound like "grassroots-driven" to you?)


PRINCIPLES OF RESTRUCTURING...Restructuring requires risk-taking and
experimentation in order to transform schools into dynamic,
self-renewing , organizations....


STEPS FOR POLICY MAKER TO TAKE...Develop a specific and demanding
statement of what basic skills, thinking skills, knowledge, attitudes and
behaviors you want all students to have when they complete school....


1)  Student outcomes should meet employability criteria suggested by
business and industry.
2)  Build a coalition of business, community, education and political
leaders...to bring external pressure on the education system for
productive change. 3)  Sell the agenda to policy makers and the public. 4)
 Identify and train spokespersons to advocate system restructuring. 5) 
Get business and political leaders to carry the restructuring banner. 6) 
Provide flexibility, encourage experimentation and decentralize decision
making. 7)  Use incentives to encourage risk taking and experimentation.
8)  Decentralize authority by encouraging site-based management. 9) 
Redesign teacher and administrator education. 10)  Align and revise state
policies to support restructuring. 11)  Develop "outcomes-based"
accreditation procedures. 12)  Create public school choice plans. 13) 
Create programs that engage students in community service. ETC.