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P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI |
NEWS RELEASE CONTACT: Frank Belluscio (fbelluscio@njsba.org) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Jersey School Boards Association Executive Director Announces Retirement TRENTON, April 2, 2007 - Edwina M. Lee, a long-time advocate for public education, has announced that she will retire from her position as executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association at the end of October. Lee was named executive director in 1999 after serving as the organization's chief lobbyist. She began her employment with NJSBA, an advocacy and service organization for the state's local school boards, just over 20 years ago. "As a parent and a former school board president, I was enthused by the prospect of working for an organization devoted to the advancement of public education," recalled Lee, a resident of Franklin Township in Somerset County for 31 years. "I imagined the job would be challenging, exciting and unpredictable. I wasn't disappointed. "I will always value the opportunities that NJSBA has provided me in serving the cause of public education." During Lee's tenure, NJSBA expanded its training programs for school officials focusing them on school board leadership and the school board-superintendent relationship; expanded direct services to school boards in areas such as strategic planning/goal setting, and school ethics; and advocated successfully for school construction funding and changes in student testing. Leadership, Compassion Kevin E. Ciak, NJSBA's president, commented, "I am confident that I speak for every NJSBA president who has served with Edwina in expressing my deep appreciation for her strong leadership, her insight, and her compassion for our state's schoolchildren." Ciak, a member of the Sayreville Board of Education, said that the Association's elected officers will establish a plan to ensure a "seamless transition" of leadership, with the goal of naming a new executive director by October. Students First During Lee's tenure as executive director, NJSBA achieved significant goals on behalf of the state's local boards of education and public school students. Accomplishments included research projects on student assessment, student mobility and special education funding, each of which resulted in legislation or significant state policy decisions. With a coalition of education organizations, NJSBA successfully advocated enactment of the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act, which provided $8.6 billion in state funds for new school construction. The Association was an early supporter of a grant program, which directed a portion of those funds to help non-Abbott school districts reduce the borrowing needed to build new schools, thereby easing the burden on property taxes. On behalf of NJSBA, Lee serves on the board of the New Jersey Performance Assessment Alliance, a coalition of business and education organizations, including the state education department. The Alliance is developing a method, to be used in concert with traditional standardized tests, to accurately measure student achievement. NJSBA has also focused on property tax reform and, early on, called for a special session of the state Legislature to address New Jersey's overreliance on property taxes to support public education. Lee served as a member of the Franklin Township Board of Education from 1980-86 and as the board's president for three of those years. She also served as president of the Somerset County School Boards Association and the Somerset County Educational Services Commission. Prior to joining the NJSBA staff, Lee served on the General Assembly's Task Force for the 21st Century, which promoted cooperation and cost efficiency in government. She was also on the board of directors of the New Jersey Governor's School for Gifted High School Students. Effective Governance When she was first named executive director, Lee cited "effective school governance" as a primary area of focus for NJSBA. The NJSBA Board Member Academy, which provides training in all areas of school board responsibility, expanded its offerings to include a Certified Board Leader designation. The program involves specialized training focusing on efforts to improve student achievement through the critical relationship between the school board, which sets policy, and the superintendent, who carries out those policies. During Lee's time as executive director, NJSBA has been a member of the State Action for Educational Leadership Project, a 21-state initiative funded by the Wallace Foundation, a supporter of research to improve school district leadership. With the state Department of Education and organizations representing superintendents and principals, Lee guided new concepts that will improve school board-superintendent relations. The Association also instituted programs to recognize the contributions of local school board members to their communities, including the annual designation of the New Jersey School Member of the Year. Lee also represents NJSBA on the New Jersey High School Reform Steering Committee, a coalition of business and education organizations; Leadership for Educational Excellence, an alliance of the state's major education organizations; and the state's Standards and Assessment Advisory Committee. On the national level, she has served on the National School Boards Association's Executive Director Leadership Liaison Committee. In Lee's first year as executive director, the Alliance for Competitive Energy Services began operation. The program is a cooperative of school boards, sponsored by NJSBA, which purchases electricity and natural gas in bulk. A significant development that began during Lee's service will be the relocation of the organization's operations to a new facility, expected to be completed in 2009. The new headquarters, in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, will be designed to meet the goals of the organization's Long Range Plan in the areas of membership training and direct services. Authorized by the organization's Board of Directors, the decision to relocate followed an extensive cost-benefit analysis by a committee of local school board members. The study group determined that the renovations and maintenance needed to keep NJSBA's existing Trenton headquarters in operation would not be a cost-effective use of the organization's funds. What's Best for Children The position of NJSBA executive director involves contact with high-level state and federal officials and the management of a $10 million-a-year organization. All of those efforts have one simple but important purpose, according to Lee. "Our job is to make sure that local boards of education have the ability and the resources to do what's best for children's education," she has often said. In her letter of resignation to the Association's president, Lee noted that she is looking forward to her post-NJSBA life. "Like many members of the baby-boom generation, I am facing the prospect of what will come next in the pending decade," she wrote. "I would like to focus my energies, time and interest on my family. They have graciously waited in the wings as I dedicated days, evenings and weekends to the mission of the Association." Lee and her husband have two adult children and two grandchildren.
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