2007 Board Elections - Institutional Candidates

	Elections Information Marla Davenport Tony Korwin Ed Zaiontz Steve Zsiray

Ed Zaiontz

Personal Information

Large School District Member
Executive Director, Information Services, Round Rock Independent School District (TX)
ed_zaiontz@roundrockisd.org

Experience and Educational Background

I have 31 years of experience serving in public education – 5 years teaching 8th grade math, 12 years as Instructional Technology Coordinator/Director, and 14 years as the Executive Director of Information Services in Round Rock ISD. I have also served as the Chair for CoSN’s CTO Council for the last 4 years and worked with the CTO Council to create the framework of Essential Skills for the K-12 CTO. Currently, I’m the Chair for the Texas K-12 CTO Council, CoSN’s first state chapter.

As a prospective member of the CoSN Board of Directors, what do you view as the top three priorities for improving K-12 information technology?

Priority One:

Create a vision of a world-class educational system and define technology’s role in achieving that vision.

Priority Two:

Strengthen ed-tech leadership at the state and local levels by encouraging the formation of additional CoSN state chapters.

Priority Three:

Advocate for adequate technology funding to create technology-rich environments that will maximize learning and optimize teaching.

I wish become a member of the CoSN Board of Directors because:

I would like the opportunity to work with state and local ed-tech leaders to develop new strategies for promoting the mission of CoSN (i.e. to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies).

If elected, I bring the following skills to the CoSN Board of Directors:

Leadership & Vision: 31 years of public school experience - 14 years as a chief technology officer in a fast-growing, suburban school district. Team Building & Collaboration: Four years of experience working with CoSN and the CTO Council and experience in working with the Texas K-12 CTO Council consisting of 57 Texas school districts. Dedication to CoSN's mission: In 2005, I received the CoSN Volunteer of the Year award.

I believe the most important goals for CoSN to achieve as a leading K-12 technology organization are:

Leadership Development: Engage in programs and activities that improve the capabilities of school technology leaders at the state and local levels to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning. Coalition Building: In times where we have less money and are expected to do more with what we have, working together could give each of us valuable new tools to serve our districts. Advocacy: Maintain a strong and effective voice in policy formation and implementation at the federal and state level to ensure that law and policy serve the interests of all students in our school districts.

Candidate Campaign Statement

I am the Executive Director of the Information Services Department in the Round Rock Independent School District. Round Rock ISD is a suburban school district north/northwest of Austin, Texas and has 39,000 students, 42 campuses, and over 4500 employees. I have 31 years of experience serving in public education – 5 years teaching 7th/8th grade math, 12 years as Instructional Technology Coordinator/Director, and 14 years as the Executive Director of Information Services. I have also served as the Chair for CoSN’s CTO Council for the last 4 years and worked with the CTO Council to create the framework of Essential Skills for the K-12 CTO. Currently, I’m the Chair for the Texas K-12 CTO Council, CoSN’s first state chapter. The Texas K-12 CTO Council has 57 Texas school districts that are institutional members of CoSN and hosted the inaugural CTO Texas Clinic in June 2006.

I wish to become a member of the CoSN Board of Directors because I would like the opportunity to work with state and local ed-tech leaders to develop new strategies for promoting the mission of CoSN -- that is, to support and nurture technology leadership, to advocate for technology initiatives at a national and state level, to build coalitions between school districts, and to create an awareness of emerging technologies.