Back to School

by Executive Director John Ashley

The Class of 2021 is entering the kindergarten this fall. We don’t know what the world will look like when they graduate from high school, but it is imperative that we come together as communities to prepare these young people for the challenges ahead.

As we start a new school year, expectations are high. Our public education system must keep pace in a rapidly changing world and prepare students for jobs that don’t currently exist. Schools must close the achievement gap while educating an increasingly diverse population.

Public education governed by local school boards has been and will continue to be the foundation of our society and economy. The fiscal and academic challenges facing public education today demand tough decision-making. Each locally elected school board must balance its competing community values to establish local priorities while recognizing state and federal laws, court precedents and administrative policies.

Public schools belong to the public. All community members – parents, business owners, teachers, senior citizens, students, civic leaders and others – deserve the right to hear and be heard by the local school board, charged with making those tough decisions.

Our school boards strive to provide public schools that are effective and efficient. Wisconsin’s students are depending upon their communities to support and value their education.

As we welcome our students back to our schools it is also time to remind ourselves that our youth rely on us to collaboratively work toward providing their public education – an education that will shape not only their futures, but the future of this state and nation.