Student's View: Top Five Reasons to Join AASA, The School Superintendents Association
By Tatiana Le, student intern, AASA, The School
Superintendents Association
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In my quest to unravel
the mysteries of AASA, The School Superintendents Association, I found an
opportunity to interview C.J. Reid, associate executive director, governance,
membership & affiliate services.
What I learned about AASA
membership from C.J. wasn’t what I expected. There aren’t five amazing reasons
I can list that will convince any school administrator to join AASA, there are
over 20,000 reasons: one slightly different, personal reason for each
individual member. C.J. summarized the situation succinctly, “There is no one
silver bullet to membership.”
As such, I’m going to
attempt to come up with my five bronze bullets to consider when debating
whether to become an AASA member.
1. Legal support
program
Insurance, as C.J. put
it, “is important, but not sexy.” Insurance is one of those things that most
people hope never to use, but they sleep better at night knowing it’s there
anyway.
I know as well as the
next person how necessary that security can be. Life likes to hit us all with a
little rain now and then. Through the legal support program, AASA is providing its
members up to $20,000 in legal support now, up from $10,000 last year.
2. Advocacy
As a national
association, AASA can advocate for school leaders in ways that state
associations logistically can’t. From preserving Medicaid spending in schools
to ensuring that low-income students are able to eat breakfast, AASA does its
best to represent the interests of school leaders trying to help their students
on Capitol Hill and in the White House. That means constantly listening to
members online, in person or through the governing board and executive
committee. AASA represents its members to the government, not the other way
around.
3. Networking
There is only one
superintendent in a school district; sometimes, superintendents are spread over
multiple districts. AASA’s national network of superintendents gives school
leaders the ability to connect and collaborate with people facing similar
problems across the country. The support of a community can have astronomical effects
on district confidence and success. C.J. is convinced that AASA’s National
Conference on Education could be “a room full of chairs and the superintendents
would all be content to talk to each other for three hours.”
4. Professional development
AASA hosts an
ever-growing collection of programs, cohorts, consortia and academies to help
school administrators lead and support their respective schools. Twenty percent
of AASA members retire every year, which means that school administrators need
to be prepared for a variety of environments, challenges and positions. Whether
that means taking advantage of the Urban Superintendent’s Academy or The Rural
School and Community Trust, AASA does its best to provide opportunities for its
members to grow.
5. School Administrator
(and other resources)
School Administrator,
AASA’s award-winning monthly magazine full of insight from school
administrators and other professionals in the field, is physically sent to
every member every month.
Additionally, members
receive two electronic newsletters, all AASA toolkits, access to the resource
library and discounts for all AASA books. AASA ensures that all members stay as
updated and prepared as possible. If that means having a 24-hour hotline as
part of the School Safety & Crisis Planning toolkit, AASA makes it happen.
Learn more about AASA at
aasa.org and if you like what you see, join at aasa.org/join or call
703-875-0748.