A message from Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, a Washington nonprofit group.

Please consider attending the VERY BEST SMART GROWTH MEETING OF THE YEAR, "NEW PARTNERS," which will be held Feb 6-9 (Wed-Sat) right here in DC this year. This is a massive event (expect ~2,000 attendees) and by far the highest-protein event on smart growth of the year.

see the whole agenda at: http://www.newpartners.org/agenda.html

In addition to various sessions that bear upon public finance, state and federal legislation, urban revitalization, two specific sessions on schools include (see below):

Greg LeRoy
Good Jobs First

Schools & Local Governments: Partnering for the Community's Future
Local governments and school districts often find themselves out of sync or working at cross-purposes when it comes to planning for growth and trying to ensure that schools achieve the goals of providing a good education and helping to anchor communities. Whether it's an older metropolitan area in the midst of revitalization or a fast-growing suburb, schools can play a vital role in ensuring a high quality of life, yet the regulatory processes and funding systems that drive decisions about development and school siting rarely coalesce. But rising rates of childhood obesity, growing public pressure to put schools at the center of communities, and other factors are leading cities, counties, and school systems to work more closely. This panel will focus on how local governments and school districts can partner to make schools part of a broad community investment strategy and a force for pedestrian-friendly design. Hear how speakers from diverse communities are addressing the challenges in the effort to align the goals of local governments and schools.



Friday Feb 8 - 3:00-5:00pm
Smart Schools: Planning, Funding and Policies
School planning and funding help drive the unsustainable growth patterns in our communities and can adversely impact student behavior and academic performance. By physically integrating schools into our neighborhoods, towns, and cities and adjusting their scale and form to fit the urban to rural context, we can create systemic change in both the places and in the ways we educate our youth, teachers, and citizens. The session will identify barriers to improving school investment and siting strategies, and will explore effective strategies deployed by advocates at the local and state level to create systemic change.