2007 LESN Goals

The LESN steering committee, along with approval from the membership at large, has agreed upon setting up working groups centered around three "tent pole" goals -- 1) increasing participation 2) making meetings more useful and 3) making the listserv more useful. The steering committee brainstormed specific tasks for each of the three main goals and volunteered for one of the working groups. Below are the three goals, working group members, and their specific tasks. This is not meant to be inclusive of all tasks, but merely a starting point.

Working Group # 1 -- Increasing participation

Kathy Hanlon, IA (Kathy.hanlon@legis.state.ia.us)

Julie Pelegrin, CO (Julie.pelegrin@state.co.us)

Jonathan Lowe, KY (jonathan.lowe@lrc.ky.gov)

Update LESN contact list and identify potential new members.
Increase participation by using technology for long-distance access to LESN programs.
Expand number of members on each working group.
Solicit ideas to make LESN more useful by developing and conducting a survey.

Working Group # 2 -- Making meeting more useful

Frances Ramirez-Maestres, NM (Frances.Maestas@nmlegis.gov)

Jan Yamane, HI (jyamane@auditor.state.hi.us)

Create opportunities to network (reserve breakfast/lunch tables for all education staff at ECS and NCSL meetings).
Provide professional development and training opportunities (clarify professional development)
Facilitate interaction with education policy experts.
Incorporate discussion around state level trends. Make content more useful.
Use multimedia to reach more members.

Working Group # 3 -- Making the listserv more useful

Wes Keller, AK (Wes_keller@legis.state.ak.us)

Doug Berg, MN (doug.berg@house.mn)

Chris Kotterman, AZ (CKotterman@azleg.gov)

Develop and disseminate an LESN listsev policy.
Announce and disseminate recent state studies and other useful information on the listserv.
Develop a system to archive compiled listserv responses.

LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STAFF NETWORK MISSION STATEMENT

Adopted March 2006

The Legislative Education Staff Network is devoted to serving the nation's legislative institutions and strengthening the quality of state education lawmaking and policymaking processes by improving the ability of legislative education staff to respond to the requests of legislators and their constituents adeptly, innovatively, responsibly, and thoroughly. The mission of the network is to create opportunities for legislative education staff members to network amongst themselves and with other state education professionals and representatives of education agencies and organizations; to provide professional development and training opportunities; to provide access to information and research on targeted education policy issues; to facilitate interaction with education policy experts; and to provide technical assistance to legislative education staff members through partnerships with business, nonprofit organizations, and education associations.