The Power of the Public Education Promise: Reflections from the AASA EdLeader Annual Event

There’s something powerful about being in a room with more than 300 leaders, educators, and advocates united around one mission: ensuring every student is prepared for their future.

A student panel discusses the importance of student agency at the EdLeader Promise Network Annual Event.

The energy at this year’s AASA EdLeader Promise Annual Event was contagious. The Ignite-style talks, led by innovative superintendents from across the country, were focused and inspiring, sparking meaningful conversations about what’s next for our schools and how we can lead the work together.

A clear message resonated throughout the event: The Public Education Promise is not just an idea, it’s a movement.

Public education remains the foundation of opportunity and democracy, and our collective work ensures it continues to evolve to meet the needs of today’s students and tomorrow’s world.

The Promise in Action

The New Basics: Real Skills for Real Life

The conversations reinforced that the definition of “basics” has expanded. Literacy and numeracy remain essential, but so do creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, empathy, and resilience. These real skills prepare students for life, not just for tests.

Student-Centered Learning

Across the network, school systems are intentionally designing learning experiences that are personal, relevant, and engaging. When students have voice and choice, learning becomes ownership, and ownership leads to agency. Empowering students with voice and choice transforms learning from compliance to commitment, that’s where agency begins.

Attract, Hire, Retain, and Reward the Best People

Another powerful takeaway was the reminder that people make the promise possible. Behind every thriving school are dedicated educators, teachers, support staff, and administrators, whose talent, care, and creativity shape every learner’s journey.

Investing in people, recognizing their strengths, and creating growth opportunities are central to sustaining student-centered systems. When educators feel supported, students feel inspired.

Virginia’s Henrico County Public Schools provided a model of a personalized approach to professional learning and pathways that empowers growth opportunities and sparked a lot of great discussion in our district.

Build Highly Engaged Family, Community, and Business Partnerships

Collaboration also emerged as a unifying theme. Families, community organizations, and local businesses are essential partners in connecting learning to life. When schools and communities share ownership of student success, the result is deeper engagement and stronger outcomes.

As many leaders noted, collaboration is our superpower; it turns shared vision into sustained progress. With a focus on reimagining career technical education, the team at Vicksburg Warren School District in Mississippi has masterfully developed College & Career Academies with a plethora of partnerships that is a model for others to emulate.

Measure What Matters

Throughout the conference, participants discussed how to measure what truly matters. Test scores provide one lens, but they don’t capture the full picture. Growth, engagement, and readiness are the outcomes that reflect true impact. Many districts are now exploring meaningful ways to assess Portrait of a Graduate competencies, ensuring that every student not only learns but also develops the skills to thrive in an ever-changing world.

As one participant reflected, “Public education is not broken, it’s evolving.”

When we shift from defense to offense and lead boldly for kids, we reaffirm that public schools are vibrant centers of innovation, inclusion, and hope.

The AASA EdLeader Promise Network reminds us that we are not working in isolation. Whether a district is just beginning its Portrait journey or has been cultivating student-centered learning for years, we are united by a shared commitment: to ensure every student is known, supported, and future-ready.

Together, with our students, staff, families, and communities, we’re not waiting for the future. We’re building it.

Learn More About the EdLeader Promise Network

The EdLeader Promise Network is a powerful new community that unites AASA’s Learning 2025 Network with Battelle for Kids’ EdLeader21 Network.