Welcome to another year of leadership, research, and service as Phi Delta Kappans! I am pleased to serve as your president this year, and I am fortunate to be assisted by a talented group of people serving on the PDK-USC Board. I want to give a particular welcome to the thirty-six new members who joined PDK-USC in 2006-2007. The University of California Chapter was founded on June 10, 1922, so we are beginning our 86^th year.

Our theme for this year is Supporting High-Quality Public Education through Leadership, Research and Service. We have many great educational leaders in PDK-USC, and our association’s publication, The Kappan, is highly respected in the area of research. This year, PDK-USC is going to publicize some local areas of service that our members may want to support with time and resources. Please let us know if you know of any service opportunities that would be of interest to other USC Kappans. You can email me at alexissheehy@yahoo.com.

Our new President-elect for Phi Delta Kappa International is Sandee Crowther. She has stated that Phi Delta Kappa, “must be visible nationally and internationally as a strong advocate for publicly supported education. Both in North America and internationally, we need to share what is “right” with public education.” In line with those thoughts, our first speaker of the year, Dr. Darline Robles, Superintendent of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, will talk to us on what is “right” with public education in our own backyard on September 7.

Your board has been working on revising our bylaws to be in compliance with a template from Phi Delta Kappa International. One item that will affect the membership is that Board elections will now be held in March rather than in May beginning next year to conform with PDK International Bylaws. So you will want to make sure to attend the March 7, 2008 dinner meeting to vote for your 2008-2009 officers. The bylaws will be ready for your review at the September dinner meeting, and the membership will vote on them at the November dinner meeting.

Phi Delta Kappa International’s Summit on Global Education: Preparing our students for work and citizenship in a global society. The summit will be held October 18-20, 2007 in Vancouver. The impact of globalization is the pivotal challenge facing nations in the 21st century. A panel of globalization experts will tackle this issue in a moderated session on Thursday, October 18. On October 19, Gene Sperling, director of the Center on Universal Education at the Council of Foreign Relations, will give the keynote address. Breakout sessions Friday afternoon and Saturday will further encourage dialogue on global education.

We’re very excited about our new venue for our meetings, the Vineyard Room in the Davidson Conference Center. Come join your fellow Kappans at each dinner meeting to be a part of another exciting year in education.