Greetings From AASPA

Kelly Coash Johnson, AASPA Executive Director

Greetings from AASPA! I was thrilled to be asked to share a few words and updates from your national association. We have had an amazing year in 2021-2022, and continue to work towards being the leader in the education, support and advocacy for our members and the student they serve.

We know that the educator shortage is a nationwide crisis, and is being felt by all of our members. As a national educational organization, AASPA has been addressing the issue on multiple fronts by dedicating resources, professional development, advocacy and data to support you. In February 2022, with the help of key advocates and friends of education, we hosted the 2022 National Educator Shortage Summit. This event was the first of its kind and brought together various partners and players to address and discover our similarities as well as our differences. As the educator shortage continues to grow, we want to start addressing it from a collective perspective by leveraging the knowledge and influence of multiple stakeholders. Organizations cannot solve the shortage alone. The results of the summit produced not only stronger partnerships and relationships with higher ed, department of education and PK-12, but also produced a white paper dedicated to five shifts we believe can be taken to move the needle. This white paper moves beyond the surface-level responses to examine deeper, systematic issues that contribute to mismatches between educator supply and demand. The five shifts can serve as a framework for not only school districts, but for organizing state-level summits on staffing shortages or helping stakeholder groups identify opportunities for collaboration. Through a common understanding of the issue, a unified vision, and focused action, the essential task of eliminating the educator shortages within our reach. I invite you to take a look for yourself and download your copy at: https:// www.aaspa.org/national-educatorshortage-

In addition to addressing issues that most impact our members, AASPA has continued to add benefits and grow our professional development program. We officially endorsed three national pieces of legislation through our legislative committee and hosted our first Day on the Hill with AASPA board members. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee has been hard at work both assisting in our DEI Summit as well as DEI resources on our website. We were excited to release the new Human Capital Leaders in Education (HCLE) standards this year and once again Texas lead the way in Professional Human Capital Leaders in Education (pHCLE) trainings and test takers. As this program continues to grow, we can’t wait to offer more opportunities to highlight the great work of leaders like you. You can see it is a great time to get involved with your national association. We are accepting committee volunteers as well as volunteers to present, write articles and conduct webinars. You can sign up on our Get Involved Form at: https://bit.ly/3AstOha We hope you will plan to attend the AASPA Annual Conference October 10-13 in Orlando, FL. I say without reservation that this year’s event will spotlight the best practices, innovation and creativity that has been seen this year in human capital leadership. We are planning to roll the red carpet out for all of you to have an opportunity to learn, network and have a little fun in Orlando. If you have not checked out the conference website and viewed the keynote speakers, preconference sessions, breakout sessions and yes the amazing networking events be sure to do so at: https://www.aaspaconference. com/