david iseminger online, and inside

I’m passionate about making sure my community has the best education system around. Not just for me or my family... as I’ve said many times, I would be doing this whether I had kids or not.

I’m a teacher at heart... there is such gratification in seeing that lightbulb flip on, and the glow it shares with everyone it touches. I’m also a teacher in practice; syndicated through Cengage Learning, I created and now teach three online courses in Networking, offered in thousands of educational institutions throughout the world. I’ve taught lots of students, thousands of them, and really enjoy doing so.

The three courses I teach are Introduction to Networking, Intermediate Networking, and Wireless Networking. Kirsten teaches a course called Building Wealth - perfect for her, since she’s a former banker and a Certified Financial Planner. Check out my blog page for what some of my students have said about my courses.

Kirsten’s course:

    Building Wealth

My courses:

    Introduction to Networking

    Intermediate Networking

    Wireless Networking

I’m also a School Board Director with the Lake Stevens School District, as I mentioned earlier, and its President. Serving on the board is a great experience, and I work hard to ensure we’re doing everything we can in Lake Stevens to provide the best education possible. I’m also very active in state- and federal-level advocacy for education, and can think of few causes more important.

It wasn’t all that long ago when I realized, almost as an epiphany, that I was settled into the home where I would raise my family and build our future. That may sound simplistic or obvious, but living in an area and making it your home are different things. Home is a place you continually work to improve; a place where you’re actively involved and personally invested; a place you dedicate yourself to making better. I believe that your home - your community - expands with your opportunity to make it better.

I’ve worked at a handful of different professions, most of them interesting. Some I still actively pursue, which keeps me busy... which is much better than being bored. I suspect many people have all sorts of jobs, and learn new things all the time. It keeps things interesting and fun.

First job: dad, spouse, family guy. Second job: writer/author, which is a job I’ll never give up. Third job: president of the school board. Fourth job: director of developer information experience at expanz Inc. -- a great company with incredible potential. Fifth job: technology consultant. Sixth job: teacher of online courses. Seventh job: tireless education advocate. Eighth job: official bark bed weeder and grass mower. Ninth job: network break-it and then fix-it guy.

If I’m not learning something or creating something, I tend to get restless. There’s so much to learn, so many new things to experience, and so many great new challenges to face. Long live books, communities, and new things.

I’m very active in education in Washington state, and the reason is simple: education is the great equalizer. You can be from a small town, middle-of-nowhere, living hand-to-mouth while growing up... but if you’re determined and driven to get a good education, you can do anything with your life. Anything. We owe every kid who feels that way, regardless how where or how they live, that chance. And when they take that opportunity and run with it, everyone wins.

With ESHB 2261, the Washington State Legislature put a comprehensive redefinition of basic education into motion. Today education in Washington is underfunded, and despite lots of dedicated and capable teachers, it’s not well-poised to produce the creative leaders we need in this increasingly competitive and well-educated world. This opportunity to make wholesale improvements to a statewide education program presents itself about once in a generation. We need to grab it and run with it, which is exactly what I’m helping to do.

ESHB 2261 created a few working groups, in which experts from the education community are tasked with crafting the details of that new definition. I’m on the Funding Formula Technical Working Group, which is responsible for three elements of redefining basic education:

    - come up with new and better funding formulas;

    - recommend an implementation plan; and

    - provide revenue options to fund the significantly increased program

Those may sound simple, but each is a fairly tall order in its own right. I’m absolutely determined to get through the work, and feel personally responsible for seeing each completed. Anything short leaves the legislators to make their best guess, without the benefit of experience and knowledge the working groups bring to bear.