We are
pleased to have as our keynote speaker State Superintendent of Public
Instruction, Elizabeth Burmaster. Superintendent Burmaster worked
in education for 25 years as a music teacher and principal prior to
her election as Superintendent in 2001. As a third-generation Wisconsin
teacher, she has experience as both a teacher and an administrator at
every level-elementary, middle, and high school. As state superintendent,
she serves on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, the Wisconsin
Technical College System Board, and the Governor's Workforce Investment
Board. At the national level, she is President-elect of the Council
of Chief State School Officers, where she serves on the board of directors
and is chair of the Task Force on Early Childhood Learning and the NCLB
Reauthorization Task Force. She has been a strong advocate for service
learning on local, national, and international levels as chair of the
National Center for Learning and Citizenship. She is a national leader
on internationalization of curriculum, counting among her staff the
nation's first and only continuous full-time international education
advisor. In 2002, she initiated a statewide International Education
Council, bringing together top business and education leaders around
the same table. To build Wisconsin's international connections, she
has traveled to Germany, France, Thailand, and Vietnam, leading teacher
seminars and developing memoranda of understanding with heads of state.