Nicholas Johnson Is http://www.nicholasjohnson.org easier to remember? It works. Try it. Join users in 95 countries. Now just who is this unmasked man? Of all the world's wonderful Nicholas Johnsons, this is the one who . . . is a former Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, an Iowa City Community School District board member, teaches at the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, writes, lectures internationally, last updated this page May 25, 2001, offers the Iowa City weather forecast, and provides you "What's New" plus the following . . .

* University of Iowa College of Law Teaching. Cyberspace Law Seminar is offered during this, the spring 2001 semester. First meeting: January 10. Last year's CLS site is also available. Two classes were offered during the fall 2000 semester: Law of Electronic Media 2000 and Economics of Law Practice Seminar. Thinking about going to law school? New to law school? Read "So You Want to be a Lawyer: A Play in Four Acts."

* School Board next meets: Special meeting, June 5, 7:00 p.m., regular meetings, June 12 and 26, 2001, 7:30 p.m., all at Central Administrative Office. Want to track the Board's innovations in goverance? Check the governance page. The PowerPoint slides used by the Board for its governance presentation at the Iowa Association of School Board's convention in Des Moines, November 16, 2000, are available online: "Governance: The Third Way." Want to join the fun? Why not run for School Board? Nothing's more rewarding. Check out "School Board Service".

* Next Iowa City Press-Citizen column: Currently scheduled for Tuesday morning's edition, June 5, 2001 (posted here later that morning or shortly thereafter). (A complete collection of the full text of all prior columns is available at this site. And check out the main site for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. The column is available there as well on the day of publication (look under "Opinion"), or in its "archives" if published during the prior week -- as well as the Press-Citizen's answer to "who is Nicholas Johnson?")

* Latest column: "Learn from Alternative Schools" ["The best alternative high schools are among America's most exciting educational success stories. What can traditional high schools borrow from them to the benefit of all?" Here's a start at the list. Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 22, 2001.]

* "A View of Switzerland: Schools, Government and Railroads" [Nicholas Johnson and his wife visited Switzerland in May 2001 to study the International Telecommunications Union and Swiss innovations in primary and secondary education. This photo essay report is under construction but already contains at least some pictures. First posted May 25, 2001.]

* "Special Ed Has Its Special Issues" [Our nation's special education programs "represent humanity at its finest." But they "put severe economic and other strains on school districts. Frustrations for administrators, special ed teachers and associates, classroom teachers and parents. Each disabled student is a valued person. Each deserving of the best our society is willing to afford. One of the toughest challenges confronting any civilization is calculating how much that is." Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 8, 2001.]

* "Outcome With Scouts is Unclear" [On April 10 the ICCSD Board held a community forum to discuss the legal and other implications of the Boy Scouts' homophobic policy in light of the school district's anti-discrimination policy, which includes "sexual orientation." "Debates elsewhere about issues of no greater divisiveness can and do lead to decades-long civil wars. Democracy's potential has been powerfully demonstrated in our community once again" by the civility of the discussion of these emotionally-charged issues. Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 24, 2001.]

* "Special Education Controversy" [ICCSD Board President Matt Goodlaxson's April 10 expression of concerns about the District's special education program produced quite a backlash from teachers -- and a special agenda item at the Board's April 24 meeting. Here are some of Nicholas Johnson's comments on the issues. April 24, 2001.]

* "We Need Alternative High School" ["Some students are said to be 'at risk.' But it is we who are equally at risk if we continue to ignore what they are telling us with their words and actions. Our district needs a good alternative high school. It's a need that increases with time." Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 10, 2001.]

* "Opinion of the ICCSD Board in Response to a Petition Regarding the Resignation of the City High Principal" [District stakeholders petitioned the School Board on March 27, 2001, itemized their complaints regarding the Superintendent's handling of the resignation of a local high school principal and offered suggestions for improvements in the Board's monitoring of his performance. This response was drafted by the Board and adopted and released at its next regular meeting, April 10, 2001.]

* "Give Back: Serve on School Board" ["It's a blessing to serve on a school board. And now is the time to decide who will serve. Unwilling to serve? That just increases your obligation to find other folks who will. We're all in this together. We all need to give back to our community. There's no more satisfying way to do that than with school board service." Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 27, 2001.]

* "Educational Opportunities and Class Size Equity: A Proposal for the Iowa City Community School District Board, March 25, 2001" [The board, superintendent, boundaries committee, community and local media have considered a number of components as "options" that might go into an overall plan for dealing with overcrowded school buildings, inequity in size of classrooms, long range planning, and related issues and opportunities. But there are not, yet, any specific, integrated plans. Nicholas Johnson has attempted to pull some of these ideas into a single, integrated proposal in this discussion document designed to help move the board, and community, from options to conclusion.]

* "Principal Concern for Education" [National attention is coming to be focused on K-12 administration. Not just the shortage of principals, but their role. If it's instructional leadership that we need perhaps we should be looking for "principal teachers" rather than building managers. As Blackman and Fenwick put it, "The challenge districts face is to encourage the able to be the willing." As Johnson concludes regarding the ICCSD and its search for principals, "No one doubts we have the able."Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2001.]

* For a complete listing of, and links to, all articles and speeches prior to those listed here -- that is, those from the Spring of 1996 to the present -- please check out the "Recent Publications" page. For writing prior to 1996 go to the "Nicholas Johnson Archives" page.

(Note that video samples of Nicholas Johnson public appearances are available from this site; a streaming video of an entire half-hour television interview is also available.)

NOTE: Would you prefer to see this page, and the others to which it links, in French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish? CLICK HERE.
 

Note: To speed retrieval of this Web page, regardless of users' available equipment and connections, photos and fancy graphics have been kept to a minimum. -- Last updated May 25, 2001.

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