Where’s the Affirming Vision for Public Education?

In a polarized time, none are better positioned than superintendents for promoting a community’s broader mission of schooling beyond test scores

April marks 40 years since “A Nation at Risk” launched the standards-based reform era, using cherry-picked data to argue that lackluster test scores threatened America’s national security and global leadership.

Today, we are very much more a nation at risk than we were then. Young people are experiencing record levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. Unsustainable income inequality is worse than in the Gilded Age. Political polarization is closer to sectarianism than partisanship.

Although these challenges don’t begin or end in public schools, K-12 education is a powerful lever for addressing them. And no one is better positioned than local superintendents to articulate a rich vision for public education and rally their communities in support of public education’s inspiring mission of belonging and opportunity for all.