PHOTOS: NYSUT BOCES Leadership Conference 2006

With a conference theme urging participants to "shape a stronger future for BOCES," it's fitting that more than one-quarter of those attending NYSUT's 34th annual Conference for BOCES Leadership were first-timers.

"It's another show of solidarity for BOCES members," said Kathy Taylor of Ulster BOCES Teachers Organization, who chairs NYSUT's BOCES Statewide Planning Committee.

Many of the newcomers were School-Related Professionals. It's the second year that SRPs as a group were invited to the three-day conference, which included a series of workshops designed specifically for paraprofessionals and the issues that affect them. 

"I see the future standing here," said Thomas Arena as he was introduced to six members of the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Federation of Instruction Support, all wearing the green ribbons of first-time attendees. A member of Monroe 1 BOCES Paraeducators Association, Arena is a member of the statewide committee.

With the recent unification of NYSUT and the National Education Association of New York, the statewide union now contains more than 70 bargaining units that represent nearly 19,000 active and retired faculty and support staff at all of the state's 37 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services.

Nearly two dozen workshops, information sessions and department meetings - many of them built on the conference theme of a stronger future for BOCES - spotlighted topics ranging from BOCES funding to collective bargaining and Career Development and Occupational Studies learning standards.

"BOCES is a great, well-kept secret," NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue told 120 conference-goers in her welcoming address. Leaders, she predicted, would be pleased with a new, secure area to be rolled out shortly on NYSUT's Web site, providing up-to-date information to BOCES local leaders.

Donahue, who oversees BOCES issues for the statewide union, said she would be continuing her visits to BOCES facilities throughout the school year.

She was not alone in praising conference-goers for their political activism and reminding them about the importance of the upcoming state and federal elections to the future of BOCES and its component school districts.

Charles Santelli, NYSUT director of policy and program development, hailed BOCES members for lobbying that helped block repeated attempts by Gov. Pataki to cut or freeze BOCES aid to school districts.

Reminding them that "the future of BOCES is inextricably tied to your component districts," Santelli urged activists to get their members involved in helping pass local school budgets.

Across the state, nearly 700 school districts take advantage of BOCES programs and services they couldn't provide by themselves, ranging from special education services and alternative schools to adult programs and Career and Technical Education.

- John Strachan

PHOTOS: NYSUT BOCES Leadership Conference 2006