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President's Message
Kelly Pelletier

To my fellow administrators,

Thank you for electing me as your 2011-2012 OCASA President.  I am excited to be representing you this year and promise to continue to be a voice for administrators in our district.  For a few years now we have been asking for your support and your voices to help our organization gain numbers and influence in Orange County.  The only way we can assure we will be a part of discussions and gain time with the Superintendent is if we continue to increase our membership.  With a high percentage of OCPS administrators as members of OCASA, we can truly say we represent the interests of all administrators.

This is a difficult time to be an administrator.  The politicians don’t seem to understand what challenges we face every day in our schools.  We must stand up for ourselves and be heard.  No one else is going to do it for us.  We are facing an uncertain future with new administrator assessments, new teacher evaluation systems, pressure to raise academic achievement, meet 100% AYP, implement Response to Intervention, integrate Common Core Standards, and keep up with Race To the Top legislation.  Of course, we are expected to do all of this and ensure our schools are running smoothly and we are being responsive to our school communities.

OCASA works in conjunction with the Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA) to promote a legislative agenda that will benefit all administrators in the state.   Every day we are faced with vouchers and charter schools being promoted by politicians who believe competition will make the public schools stronger.  Our budgets are being slashed because the public believes the schools are not doing their jobs; we are not educating their children.  It is critical we as leaders in the schools start making noise and OCASA is a conduit for that noise to be heard by the right people.

I urge you to become active in OCASA.  We are your organization and we need you to make it work.  Whether you support us by joining and paying dues, attending the breakfast meetings, or volunteering to represent your learning community on the board, we need you!  As Diane Ravitch said in her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System (2010), “without knowledge and understanding, one tends to become a passive spectator rather than an active participant in the great decisions of our time”.  Build your knowledge and understanding; become an active participant. 

Kelly Pelletier
OCASA President 2011-2012