This is a message to the members of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) from Charlie Kyte, Executive Director.
There is an 11 minute audio podcast that you can access here or on the MASA Website (www.mnasa.org) by clicking on MASA BLOG in the right hand panel.
CHINA TRIP IN DECEMBER:
The chinese government is subsidizing a trip to china for school administrators that have a chinese language program in their schools.
The trip is Dec 2-10 and costs $450 plus airfare to the domestic departure city (probably LAX). Information about the trip is posted on the MASA website (www.mnasa.org).
LETTER TO MEMBERS ABOUT SPONSORS AND ALSO A BIT ABOUT P-CARD REBATES:
We will send all members a letter later this week identifying all the business sponsors and partners of MASA. Many of these businesses spopnsor the activities of MASA as we serve our members.
We sent our P-Card Rebate checks to about 60 Districts amounting to a total of just over $250,000.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES ON THE HORIZON:
Legislative Policy...... Oct 20
Legislative Finance...Oct 26
Legislative Pensions.Oct 29
Region Mtg in Mankato........Oct 27
Region Mtg in Worthington..Oct 28
MASE Conference.....Oct 22-24
Curriculum Conf.......Nov 17-19
MONEY AS IT RELATES TO EDUCATION:
State revenues again came up short of projections. Today, there is a joint hearing of the House and Senate to look at possible areas of additional spending reductions for the rest of this biennium. Federal Stimulus money is being spent in all government sectors. We see little financial relief for schools in the next legislative session (however we will try hard to access some funding).
INTERESTED IN OUTSOURCING?:
The primary objective of outsourcing traditionally has been cost reduction, but it needs to be done wisely with consideration of many issues.
Here are some guidelines I found in the recent School Administrator Magazine:
** Properly define your problem.
** make sure there are enough qualified bidders.
** Conduct a thorough cost analysis
** Write an RFP and solicit proposals.
** Closely review proposed contract language.
** Make sure you have a realistic escape clause.
** Examine hidden, overhead and indirect costs.
** Closely evaluate caps on services.
** Analyze the social costs to your community.
** Check the experience of other customers.
EGYPT--- OUR RECENT TRIP:
On October 1 Dianne and I flew to Cairo, Egypt via New York. We joined a group of 14 other travelers for a vacation exploring Egypt.
After collecting ourselves in Cairo, we flew the next day to the city of Hurghata on the Red Sea. This city is much like Cancun in Mexico. We enjoyed 2 days and then set out to see the real Egypt.
We traveled overland from the Red Sea to Luxor on the Nile River. We were required to have an army escort, as do all american and Israeli groups traveling in rural Egypt. Thus we were led, and followed, by an army pickup and had an armed guard on the bus. The emptyness of the desert compared to the dense populations near the Nile River was profound.
At Luxor we toured the ancient temples of Karnak, Esna, Edfu and Luxor. We also visited the Vallleys of the Kings and of the Queens and entered several of the tombs.
We boarded a riverboat and spent the next four days slowly cruising down the Nile with several trips to see more temples. This was a highlight of the trip. We fianlly arrived in Aswan, then flew to Abu Siembel just north of the Sudanese border to see the large temples that were moved beyond the reach of the waters of Lake Nasser that rose behind the high dam at Aswan.
After a couple of days in Aswan we flew back to Cairo. We stayed near Giza, visited the Great Pyramid of Cheops and the Sphinx. Di and I even rode on camels for awhile.
We traveled by bus to the ancient capitol of Memphis and also to Saqquara. We saw the Colussus of Rames II, more ruins and temples.
One afternoon we spent several hours at the 112 year old Egypt National Museum where all the artifacts from King Tuts tomb are on display. We had an Egyptologist, Amr Hassan as a guide and he was very knowlegeable. He shared much of Egypt's history with us and also shared much about its daily life and politics.
On October 12 we finally headed for home.... An 11 hour flight to New York, a 5 hour layover and a final 3 hours to Minneapolis.
A few Egypt facts:
Only 12% of Egypts land is liveable.
Cairo has a population of 18 million people, equivalent to the population of MN, Wisc, Iowa, N & S Dakota & Wyoming.
Upper Egypt is in the south (upstream on the Nile).
40% of Egypt's people live on less than $2 a day.
All young men have mandatory military service. The Egyptians list their enemies as Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. They are at peace with Israel based on the 1967 Camp David Peace Agreement brokered by US President Jimmy Carter.
The largest source of foreign currency are the tolls from the Suez Canal, second is tourism. With the avoidance of the Red Sea for shipping because of the pirates and the recession reducing tourism, Egypt is a pretty bad place financially.
Egyptians love Obama!
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