Message from Dr. Peters

The American public education system can best be viewed as a community situated within an environment that changes over time due to political, social, or economic conditions. One belief is school systems cannot be significantly changed mainly because of the various ways they are tied into the social and economic structure of the society in which they develop. Over time, great leaders and teachers develop systems that facilitate pathways for success for all students. The cultural attitudes and practices of those delivering quality services to our children can not be discounted as we attempt to develop organizational structures that are aligned with the realities our children face. A large part of the battle is convincing educators themselves that the work can be done. There has never been a time when we need to be better and do better wherever we reside and work. Our work has never been more important. The time is now for us to develop guidelines to get off the sidelines.

The challenges facing our public schools are escalated by the inability of parents, school leaders, teachers, and communities to consistently and effectively address the dismal patterns of decline of students across this country. Dr. Pedro Noguera states, “too many educators have begun to accept this failure as the norm.”

We must create a new norm from the classroom to the boardroom. Mediocrity is not an accepted practice and our children deserve better. As we continue in our quest to be the best remember, “best practices STOP our search for BETTER practices.

Thank you for all you do to make our school systems and schools a great place where teaching and learning resides.