Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
June 17, 2015
DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington, Illinois (in conjunction with the IAVAT Conference)
In attendance:
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
Andrew Bowman
Jake Butcher
Dave Cattron
Al Dietz
Dean Dittmar
Jesse Faber
Jeff Galle
Doug Hanson
Harley Hepner
Bill Johnson
Karen Jones
Chris Kendall
Andrew Klein
Debra Korte
Mike Massie
Vern McGinnis
Don Moffitt
David Mouser
Alison Myers
Seb Pense
Jay Runner
Bill Schreck
Kay Shipman
Jess Smithers
Kaitlin Weitekamp
Ryan Wildman
To secure the future of agriculture in Illinois through the continual advancement of quality agriculture education
Illinois Leadership Council for Agricultural Education
Promote education in and about agriculture.
Address the changing needs of agricultural education
to strengthen its viability and competitiveness to serve industry.
Develop investment opportunities involving human and financial capital
for the benefit of all groups having interest in agricultural education.
The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m. by Chairman Bowman.
The agenda was reviewed, along with the minutes of the last meeting. Dave Catton approved and Bill Schreck seconded the minutes.
Jake Butcher gave an update on the Ag Ed Line Item. In the initial budget, the Governor zeroed out the Ag Ed Line Item. Since then, a huge effort to restore funding came forth from the ag community, including testimony from ILCAE. The Democrats passed their own budget with spending exceeding revenue, which passed on partisan roll call and included Ag Ed at a level funding ($1.8 million) amount. The budget is still under negotiation at this time but Butcher feels that we will retain level funding. We have support from Republicans as well but they are “stuck.” Budget will likely be finalized in late July or August. Harley Hepner added that his office is moving forward with grants assuming level funding, but no money will be released until the budget is finalized.
Vern McGinnis reported that ICAE testified to the ISBE board in March. There are many new ISBE board members, including a new chair. He and the FFA state officer team spoke and receive a good reception. Harley Hepner noted the ISBE fiscal year is July 1-June 30 for most grants. The FCAE grant has been extended through August 31. Bill Schreck said he has met new superintendent Tony Smith, who seems supportive and willing to work with us. Schreck has also spoken with Governor Rauner’s officials who said that if the Ag Ed Line Item made it back into the budget that it would not be rejected again.
Harley Hepner believes that ag ed has support from the agency and he’s not sure there is anything that needs to be done right now other than building relationships for the future prior to the next round. When all is said and done, six out of the nine board members will be new, and at least one is very supportive of Career and Tech Ed. Will likely be other key positions replaced after June 30.
Harley recommended attending board meetings across the state, as well as budget hearings in the fall, as good places to start building those relationships. Personal connections – if a board member lives in your area, for example – would also be a place to start.
Bill Johnson asked for a contact list for the ISBE so we know where the board members are from, and could share that with FFA chapters to start reaching out. We should encourage ag teachers to write letters to new and existing board members explaining the value of ag education. Harley said those letters can be mailed to the agency for distribution. One ISBE representative – Dora Welker – did attend State Convention on Wednesday. All board members were invited, but none attended this year. Some have attended in the past.
Vern McGinnis mentioned that ICAE has made assignments among its members to begin outreach to ISBE - kind of like an adopted legislator program.
Pontiac High School ag teacher Jesse Faber asked how he and his fellow teachers can work to bring out what teachers are doing in the classroom to board members. Convention is a great highlight, but it’s only three days out of the year. FFA is not a club, but an inter-curricular organization that ties in many aspects of learning, which is often not fully understood by those outside of ag. He mentioned State Awards Day as another place to highlight FFA, as well as inviting key ISBE personnel to serve as judges for state CDEs like public speaking, parliamentary procedure, job interview, etc…
Dean Dittmar suggested asking our top ag programs to invite administrators into their classrooms to see them teach, and set up conversations with parents, chapter officers, and local alumni members.
Jay Runner asked if the board is familiar with the STEM learning exchange Race to the Top program. If so, ag ed is a good example of that process and making that connection could help show them what we’re all about.
Kay Shipman mentioned tours that CFAR used to sponsor of the best of the best university research projects. Something like that could help make the connection with high school programs as well.
Jake Butcher mentioned some press conferences happening across the state. Ag ed was asked to participate as a group who has been cut from the budget, although Don Moffitt recommended treading carefully in those waters. He would like to see who else plans to attend before we start sending people.
If we do attend, and are asked by media for comment, our message must be non-political and all about the benefits of ag education – there is a nice sheet of talking points available.
Chairman Bowman recommended that IAVAT set a goal for engagement by targeting each section where an ISBE member resides and offering up a tour this fall. In the spring, do something similar with a state legislator. ILCAE will help set up those meetings.
Jesse Faber mentioned that IAVAT has an advocacy committee with 25 section advocacy representatives. It was also brought up that pre-service teachers may be able to help set up these visits as part of their training at the universities.
Amy Jo Clemens from ISBE was in attendance and fielded some questions from the group.
Kaitlin Weitekamp has been tasked with making connections between local FFA chapters and businesses in the state. She has talked with John Smith at Kraft in Champaign. He is a former Georgia state FFA officer and is looking for ways to become more involved in Illinois. She and Andrew Bowman are in communication with John to figure out the best way to make that connection. She also plans to visit with Amber Kauffman at ADM later this month.
John Deere has a senior leader on the National FFA Foundation board. They have also started a corporate alumni chapter which Brea (Harms) Nelson is coordinating.
Andrew Bowman brought up a recent event at John Deere – they hosted members of the National FFA Foundation board and talked about how they are working with the FFA. Jesse Faber and Parker Bane from Pontiac also made presentations to the group from the teacher perspective.
There are currently four corporate alumni chapters nationwide, and three are in Illinois – John Deere, ADM, and Caterpillar. There is a lot of critical mass here in the state.
Some ideas for working with Kraft were suggested: Mentoring students in the Food Science CDE, support for the Food Science SAE, and starting an alumni chapter.
Parker Bane said he would like to see his students interacting with people in those careers. Possibly creating a CDE prep kid based on the national guidelines, or SAE/agriscience fair curricula. These would be more helpful to teachers than lesson plans. Also could offer to email or Skype with students who have questions while working on relevant SAEs or agriscience fair projects.
Andrew Bowman presented to the group the idea for an ag ed checkoff. A voluntary checkoff system could lay the foundation for future funding through an endowment. As proposed in a concept paper shared with ILCAE prior to the meeting, all commodity groups in Illinois that currently assess a checkoff would have a small additional checkoff amount added that would be earmarked for ag education. Half would create an endowment, the other half would match funds provided by the state. This money would be untouchable by groups looking to sweep accounts.
Mike Massie said he felt the program was well worth the time and effort. If this is branded ag, food, and natural resources, instead of just ag or ag ed, it would mirror the national career cluster and be more broadly focused.
Vern McGinnis called it a bold idea that may be right for the times. He asked why targeting producers only – why not alumni and others who may want to become engaged.
Doug Hanson cautioned that we would need to make sure it's not confused with the Foundation.
Jay Runner asked how can we could engage horticulture/green industry? Ag ed serves a huge role for that sector as well.
Andrew Bowman explained the idea as a community foundation for ag education statewide, that could become a donor advised fund.
Jeff Galle spoke out in opposition to going after checkoff funds, as this would put an unfair burden on just the farmers and not the industry as a whole. He believes looking only at a commodity checkoff may be shooting too low, and that something like this will only fly if everyone in the industry plays along.
Vern McGinnis called it a huge undertaking and asked what level of funding would be considered successful? And, how would we approach all these sectors – is it one-size-fits-all or does there need to be a variety of approaches?
David Mouser said that the reason we have 40 percent participation in ag ed right now is because schools aren't getting enough funding in general. Do we need to work to get schools the basic money they need and then focus on the ag ed line item for the extras? We need to look into a viable way to fund our schools, especially our smaller schools.
He mentioned Illinois Vision 20/20 (http://illinoisvision2020.org) This initiative speaks to the needs of small schools and is an adequate model for all schools, not just those north of I-80. We need to create formulas and models to determine where state education funding goes. The Vision 20/20 model is an evidence-based model in terms of funding. He would love to see the ag industry get behind at least some of this model. We have to have change in the next year or two.
Doug Hanson again mentioned the FFA Foundation, already designed to reach out to everyone from small private donors to large corporations. However, the Foundation only focuses on the 40 percent of districts with ag ed programs. How can we reach the additional 60 percent?
More concern about a pure commodity checkoff was mentioned. Farmers may feel as though they are getting hit twice and making it voluntary most likely wouldn’t help that perception. If anything is imposed, it must be industry-wide to be fair. The IDES keeps some lists on agribusinesses in the state, but it might be too restrictive.
Update on "The Plan" - Doug Hanson
Dean Dittmar encouraged everyone to review the old version, which is in need of revision.
Revisions are still in progress, but as distributed at this meeting:
· Each sector has a statewide ag ed vision proposed.
· Checking with agribusiness to see that ag ed is providing what they need as far as talented employees.
· Move Team Ag Ed chart from the back to the front of the document.
Doug will send out the Google Doc link to the group to review. Hope that the 50 page document becomes fewer pages and easier to read and use.
Dave Cattron reported on the nomination committee. We have a number of good potential individuals for open spots. By the September meeting, the committee should have the slate selected and members ready for approval at the Annual Meeting.
Awards are presented at the Illinois State Fair on Ag Day. Jess Smithers passed out a list of nominees. After discussion among the group:
Education: Jim Craft, approved by Chris Kendall, seconded by Al Dietz. Chris Koch, approved by Vern McGinnis, seconded by Bill Schreck.
Agribusiness: Mike and Lyyn Martz, approved by Dave Cattron, seconded by Bill Schreck.
Media: Vanessa Wetterling and Karen Blatter, approved by Bill Schreck, seconded by Dave Cattron.
Legislative: Rep. Jerry Costello and Rep. Adam Brown, approved by Don Moffitt, seconded by Dave Cattron.
Special Recognition: Ag literacy coordinators Teresa Sanford-Shipplett, Pam Hissong, and Jean Barron, approved by Doug Hanson, seconded by Al Dietz.
Affiliate Reports -
Don Moffit (Legislative): Ag ed is not alone in frustration about teacher certification crossing state lines. The governor is very excited to pursue public/private partnerships which may work in our favor. To balance the budget, we will probably see a combination of tax increase and cuts. Governor Rauner is doing what he promised to “shake up Springfield.”
Check to see when legislature isn't in session - many will take up an offer to visit classrooms. Even during session it's rare to be busy all five days a week, so he encouraged us to reach out to our elected officials with classroom tour opportunities.