Phil Dettelis - New York State Education Department Liaison

Thursday afternoon the conference participants had the opportunity to hear from Philip Dettelis, who is our discipline's liaison at the State Education Department.  Phil spoke on the following topics,

• Middle School Mandates relief & Middle School Flexibility

• Common Core - His suggestions to us was to reach out to Math as a collaborative partner.

• Teacher Evaluation Approval

• RTTT

• STEM

• The resignation of the NYS Commissioner of Education and it's possible impact on Tech Ed.

• Regents Research Fund

• State & Local Cuts

But the point that he kept coming back to again and again was.... that we must be proactive and head off the cuts by reaching out to other disciplines - collaborate! We cannot hide in our labs and shops and expect the cuts to miss us and go away. The more we collaborate with other disciplines (Like science & math) the harder it will be for school districts to justify the cutting of technology education! Phil is willing to communicate and provide assistance so feel free to contact him: pdetteli@mail.nysed.gov