Editor's Note (The View From Here)
2017 Brings Change Nationally and at SP&M
- By Deborah P. Moore
- December 1st, 2016
As this year comes to an end
and a new year is about to start, we
look ahead with hope and anticipation
for what will be coming our way. In January, we
will have a new President in the White House
with new ideas about how to improve our K-12
education system and make higher education
easier to access and pay for. A new secretary
of education will be named. Funding and “choice” will headline the
ensuing debate. Change is happening everywhere.
Here at the SP&M, Paul Abramson is writing his final column for us
in this December issue. It is not often that I’ve encountered people with
the vision, integrity and passion that has marked Paul’s career… a career
that has spanned more than 60 years in education as a planner and
demographer for school districts and colleges, as a researcher, a writer,
magazine editor and communicator, and as an advocate for students.
His in-depth knowledge of the industry, his analytical ability, and his
personal resolve, has led him to identify trends, research and develop
new methods, and formulate better ways to get the job done — improving
schools and the profession as a whole.
During his professional career, Paul served as a consultant to the Educational
Facilities Laboratory (EFL), a Ford Foundation-funded project
that engaged in research of school buildings, construction materials and
systems, and good school planning strategies. He also served as president
of Stanton Leggett Educational Consultants, which for many years
has been one of a few private firms specializing in educational facility
planning, working with school districts and the designers of schools. In
2008, Paul was named “Planner of the Year” by the Council of Educational
Facility Planners International (now known as the Association for
the Learning Environment) and in 2011, he became a CEFPI Fellow.
Paul has been the Education Industry Analyst for School Planning & Management and College Planning & Management magazines, a
columnist and the author of our annual studies on school and college
construction. He has been a mentor and advisor to many in the profession.
I, personally, have known Paul for nearly 35 years, and watched
him work tirelessly to promote the creative and responsible planning of
educational facilities so that every student will have a healthy, safe environment
in which to learn. We wish him well and want him to know
that he has been appreciated and will be missed!
This article originally appeared in the December 2016 issue of School Planning & Management.