April 10, 2025

Save the Date: MN Thought Leaders’ Summit – June 16–17, 2025

2nd Annual MN Thought Leaders’ Summit: Learning in the Age of AI

The first Summit was outstanding and well attended. I anticipate the 2nd Summit will be equally engaging if not more! Information follows along with a request for proposals.

📍Tech High School, St. Cloud, MN
📅 June 16–17, 2025

St. Cloud Area Schools, in partnership with the Minnesota Generative AI Alliance for Education, is excited to bring back Minnesota’s leading AI in education event—now expanded to two full days of learning, networking, and innovation.

Who should attend?

Superintendents, school leaders, educators, board members, and industry and community partners exploring how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, and leadership.

This year’s summit will feature dedicated learning strands for:

• Classroom teachers

• Building-level administrators

• District-level administrators

• Boards of Education

Call for Proposals Now Open!
Know someone leading innovative AI work in education? Encourage them to submit a session proposal or reach out to donna.roper@isd742.org.

Deb Attends Summit Featuring U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Education

You may have seen daily news coverage highlighting Secretary McMahon’s recent interview-style session at the ASU+GSV Summit. I attended the event and wanted to share some of her remarks that may be of interest to you:

• Parents want school choice.
  
  

• She highlighted innovations happening in charter schools she has visited in Florida, though no specific examples were provided.
  
  

• Title I, IDEA, and Pell Grant programs will be moved to different departments, but she emphasized that funding levels would remain unchanged.
  
  

• The federal government needs to send funding directly to states.
  
  

• When asked by the President to serve as Secretary, she said she disclosed her limited experience in education. He responded that he needed an “executive.”
  
  

• She pointed to innovative education leadership in Florida, Arkansas, and Iowa, citing Governors DeSantis, Huckabee Sanders, and Reynolds as examples.
  
  

• When asked about last week’s memo to school leaders regarding DEI, she appeared unfamiliar with it. Instead, she spoke broadly about ensuring all events are inclusive, citing Black History Month and stating it should reflect “all history.”
  
  

• NAEP will remain in place unless a better measurement tool is presented. She underscored the need for consistent student performance data.
  
  

• Secretary McMahon said her involvement in education began years ago when she read about a struggling school. She expressed a continued desire to help improve public education by sharing best practices with school districts.

The tone in the room was polite but notably subdued. Secretary McMahon received only a few rounds of applause from a limited number of attendees. While the room was at full capacity—several thousand participants, many of whom support private and charter schools—the atmosphere remained quiet. A small protest took place outside the venue.

Leadership Matters!

"Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge." - Simon Sinek