The Black Education Leadership Summit.

Shortly after the 2000 presidential election, a group of public education supporters, including AASA, came together to address the long-term and emerging educational issues affecting children of color. Their work led to creation of the Black Education Leadership Summit, a group of education, civil rights, nonprofit, business and community leaders that seeks to "move the public education debate beyond rhetoric-based theory, entrenched opinions and polarized debates."

Over the past six months, the summit's advisory group has examined the educational needs of African American children and developed a "Manifesto for the Education of African American Children," which includes five educational priorities for guaranteeing African American students equitable resources and educational opportunities:

* Enforcing the basic principles of ESEA (1994);

* Increasing the number of qualified teachers and administrators;

* Supporting early childhood development and literacy;

* Fully funding effective education programs, such as Title I and Head Start; and

* Ensuring the proper use of assessment measures vs. "high-stakes testing."

On June 12-13, the Black Education Leadership Summit met to develop a national agenda to advance these educational priorities by identifying the critical issues, determining action steps and deciding who will implement them. AASA Executive Director Paul Houston participated in a panel discussion on ways to increase the number of qualified teachers and administrators.

"What's needed are multifaceted, long-term solutions," Houston said. "There are no quick-fix solutions for [such] a complex problem."

The shortage of administrators can be attributed to a variety of factors, said Houston, including the increasingly abusive nature of the job on the superintendent and his/her family. "The superintendent is an easy target to blame.

"I've yet to see a school board fire itself," he said. Schools adopt a "baseball manager mentality" with their administrators. "When the team's losing, you fire your manager."

Sharon Adams-Taylor, AASA director of Initiatives for Women, Minorities and Children, told participants that "there has to be a commitment on our parts if we want African American children to succeed."

Log on to www.aasa.org for more information about the Black Education Leadership Summit and how you can become involved.