Marching Bands executing... choirs harmonizing... orchestras fine-tuning... general music classes teaching theory and our wonderful elementary music classes instilling the foundations of music! The 2012-13 school year is underway. Music teachers all over Kansas have taken summer music classes, attended workshops and conferences, and taught their craft to students at the many different music camps in our great state! Music teachers are a special and unique group of professionals. We continually strive to enhance our skills, so that our students will become better musicians and productive members of society. In Kansas, music teachers have shouldered many challenges in the past few years, and we continue to be dealt with additional obstacles to climb.

KMEA leadership has spent a great deal of time and energy on the budget cut difficulties in Kansas. I would like to thank everyone for filling out the surveys the past three years. The "Impact of Budget Cuts on Music Education in Kansas' Schools," has opened many doors for KMEA in the past and the data continues to speak loudly to our government officials both at the state and national levels. We all owe a great deal of gratitude to the Kansas Music Educators Advocacy Committee that is chaired by Frederick Burrack and assisted by Phillip Payne; both at Kansas State University. Kansas was the first state to produce such a survey in 2009. To date, Fred and Phillip have now worked with eight different states around the country generating this same type of survey. The accumulation of these music education surveys will certainly give our nation a look at the negative outcomes of cutting education monies. KMEA is asking for all schools across Kansas to complete one more survey this year. This survey will provide much needed data and information as we look at the adverse results of cutting over 500 music positions in Kansas during the past four years. This year's study should show us the damaging consequences to music teachers, students, and the quality of music programs due to underfunding education.

This past June, John Taylor, KMEA Executive Director and NAfME Southwestern Division President; Avian Bear, KMEA President-Elect; Mike Quilling, KMEA Vice President; Cathy Hunt, Kansas Music Review Editor; Troy Johnson, KMEA Webmaster, and I attended the 2012 National Association for Music Education National Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland. MEA leaders from across the country met to discuss national music education issues, NAfME updates, and to visit legislators on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

During our time at the National Assembly, I had the prodigious honor of accepting a national award on behalf of KMEA. Kansas Music Educators Association was chosen as the 2012 NAfME winner of the "Music In Our Schools Month Award" for the most outstanding contributions to Music Advocacy. The award stemmed from the survey written by Frederick Burrack and Phillip Payne, the "Impact of Budget Cuts on Kansas' Schools" and the KMEA Executive Council's fall 2011 presentation of the survey results to the Kansas State Board of Education. Also, on March 3, 2012 as part of Arts Day at the Capitol, Mike Quilling and Avian Bear met with key state legislators and Dr. Diane DeBacker, Kansas Commissioner of Education to discuss important issues such as teacher evaluation in our state.

For these music advocacy initiatives, KMEA was awarded a special American flag displayed in a beautiful framed case. This flag flew over the United States Capitol Building during the month of March 2012 as part of the celebration of Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM). This NAfME presentation occurred on Sunday morning, June 24, 2012, at the National Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland. Leaders from all of the MEA's across our great nation were present during this award ceremony. KMEA is planning our own special celebration for receiving this wonderful award. All KMEA members should feel ownership in winning this award and I hope everyone attends the Opening Ceremony at the 2013 In- Service Workshop (ISW) on Thursday, February 21, at 1:00 p.m!

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One of the major changes in KMEA history is upon us. If you are reading this message, you are doing so exclusively from the internet. At our February 2012, KMEA Board Meeting the voting members passed a motion to move solely to the web-based version of the Kansas Music Review (KMR). KMEA will no longer be mailing out a printed version of the KMR. KMEA is extremely fortunate to have Cathy Hunt as our KMR Editor. Cathy and her staff; Troy Johnson, Webmaster; Bob Lee, Advertising Manager; and Desiree Kelsch, Design Assistant; continue to do a fabulous job! Cathy and Troy attended the National Assembly and gave a very informative presentation about our web-based state publication. Cathy tells me that Kansas is way ahead of the curve on this issue and we are helping lead the way for other states! I would like to personally thank our KMR staff. You are indeed second to none and I look forward to your vision and expertise in future issues of our web-based publication. I think John F. Kennedy said it best, "Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." KMEA leaders certainly hope you enjoy the new and improved Kansas Music Review. Web-based publications are positively the wave of the future. I am proud that KMEA has the vision and experts to lead us down this exciting new road.

News from the Kansas Department of Education: "On July 19, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education approved Kansas' request for flexibility in meeting some of the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. Another key component of the state's waiver is related to evaluating teachers and school leaders. Among the criteria for achieving a waiver request was implementing an evaluation system that includes student achievement as a significant factor in the evaluation. The Kansas plan calls for appointing a commission to identify the most effective means of tying student achievement to teacher and leader evaluations and building that into the existing Kansas Educator Evaluation Protocol (KEEP). KEEP will be a model evaluation system that districts may adopt, or they may build their own evaluation system that incorporates the guidelines specified in the Kansas plan, including the tie to student achievement. KEEP will be piloted in 2013-2014 and will be ready for full implementation by 2014-2015. Districts opting to use an evaluation system other than KEEP must achieve full implementation by 2014-2015, as well. The state's waiver is conditioned on completing the plan to tie student performance to teacher and principal evaluations."

During the NAfME Southwestern Division meetings this past July in Wichita, SW Division President John Taylor organized a very informative session about teacher evaluation. During this session, David Dennis, Chair of the Kansas Board of Education, gave us a look at the KEEP and its benefits to teachers in Kansas. I encourage all music teachers to review the KEEP at: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4400. I plan to schedule a clinic session at the 2013 ISW that will help teachers understand this evaluation tool. In my opinion, music teachers should not be anxious towards this instrument, but rather should embrace it. The "outcomes" will definitely benefit you and your students!

I wish each of you success this school year as you shape young minds through music education! If I can ever be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

"Music for Life!"

Respectfully,
Craig L. Manteuffel
KMEA President