Name: John Porter Award: Student Services Administrator of the Year Title: Assistant Superintendent, Palmdale School District Region: 15 ACSA highlights: Member since 2001; member of Student Services Special Education Council for seven years with two years as president-elect and two years as president; Every Child Counts Symposium Committee for five years; ACSA Region 15 Special Education Administrator of the Year in 2011.

Education leaders have many opportunities to build student-focused initiatives and see them grow. John Porter took that activity to the next level, launching two schools dedicated to strengthening the lives of students living in Southern California. It’s what he considers his biggest accomplishment as an educator. “One school is an applied behavior academy for students with autism, another is a blended learning (online and center based) academy for students who want an independent study instruction,” he said. “These two projects are successfully serving students and are now standalone schools.” Porter is a second-generation school leader in the Palmdale School District and an advocate for students districtwide and throughout his community. Beyond creating schools and enriching the lives of students, Porter is most proud of what he leaves his district.  “I view my legacy as the talented colleagues that I have hired, trained, supported, mentored, coached and encouraged that will remain an asset to the district and its students for years after I retire,” he said. “I could not be prouder of the professionals they are and am honored to have had the opportunity to place them where they flourish in service to our students.” What’s your favorite book on leadership? I still like Jim Collins “Good to Great,” especially with his added Social Sectors addendum. I believe strongly that his emphasis on keeping an eye on the goal and working at continuous improvement is something that we educators need to never forget. Plus, it’s easy to confuse ends and means as we work day to day. But we need to be ever mindful that leadership is the means. Student achievement is the end goal.  What’s your favorite quote about leadership?  “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” — Jim Collins. The lesson here is: Good enough — isn’t. What’s the best advice you’ve been given? “Don’t ignore the obvious” and “Don’t be afraid of simple solutions.”   This advice came from my boss at Sears while I was attending college. To me this means leaders should look at simplifying solutions, not complicating or mystifying possible solutions.  Sometimes we can talk ourselves into believing that problems are so big and solutions so laborious that we convince ourselves they are insurmountable. We should, instead, look at big problems as a collection of smaller problems requiring a series of smaller accomplish-able solutions; some small enough to have obvious solutions. What’s your best strategy for work/life balance? The best strategy is to not save all of your fun for retirement. Travel, take a cruise, enjoy concerts, theater, museums.  Find some volunteer work to do in your community. Become a “Friends of the Library” or Red Cross worker, church volunteer or support another volunteer-based organization. These organizations serve our home communities in ways that government institutions often cannot. But they depend on folks like us to do the lifting. Volunteer work has helped me stay rooted and connected to the community that my district serves. Plus, most of the service was fun. Lastly, try not to get ends and means confused. Our jobs and careers are the means — even when the work is noble. The end game, the actual goal, is to provide for our families and to build a life. What was the best ACSA event you’ve attended? For the last six years ACSA’s Every Child Counts Symposiums have been my favorite. I was fortunate to have worked on the last four ECC events as a committee member, co-chair and chairman. The symposium has been dedicated to bringing both information and inspiration to attendees. I believe this symposium is yearly proof that ACSA is valuable to its members.  How has ACSA supported you in your career/current position? I have met some fine professionals in my work with ACSA Student Services/Special Education Council. Each, in ways small and large, has had an impact. The networking and friendships have provided valuable “go-to” options when searching for an elusive answer or solution. ACSA really is one of the finest networks a California school administrator could hope for in their career. What bucket list item do you hope to accomplish this year? Learning how to retire will be my next goal. 

The theme of the 2019 Leadership Summit is “Lead Well: Equity and Excellence.” What projects are you working on which have equity as their focus? In a general sense, all of my efforts have been focused on building and developing programs/schools to serve students that are the most often marginalized due to family circumstances, disability or behavioral challenges. My mission has been to build equitable access avenues for these students to a meaningful education.   My last project is a district developed “renaissance” of a school that has historically suffered with disproportionate numbers of at-risk students, neighborhoods suffering with poverty, crime and trauma, and academic underachievement. It has been an exciting project that blends the expertise of Student Services/Special Education with the academic instruction of Educational Services and the strengths of the Human Resources department. We plan to reinvent this school over the next several years. This is more than an equity focus. This is equity action.