The Story Is Ours to Tell

EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE

Every great public school story begins with a single question: What do our students need most right now?

For superintendents, the answer never has been clearer or more urgent. Across the country, district leaders are reimagining learning around students’ strengths, voices and dreams, ensuring every child is prepared for real life in the real world.

That belief is at the heart of the Public Education Promise, AASA’s national movement to ensure every child in every community has access to a future-ready, student-centered education. It’s also why we developed the Public Education Promise Messaging Guide, a new resource designed to help district leaders reclaim the narrative about public education and communicate our shared purpose with clarity and confidence.

Reclaiming the Narrative

Across the country, educators are feeling the weight of divisive politics and misinformation that cloud the story of public education. Yet public schools remain one of the most unifying forces in American life. Parents continue to express strong trust in their local schools and admiration for their teachers. What they need — and what they want — is to hear directly from us: the leaders who see, every day, the brilliance and potential of their children.

The story of public education is ours to tell.

That’s why AASA worked with independent researchers to listen intently to parents, educators and community members across political, geographic and cultural lines. The Messaging Guide distills those insights into practical, nonpartisan strategies every superintendent can use to communicate what public schools make possible. It is grounded in evidence and built by practitioners who know the realities of leading in today’s environment.

Through that research, one message rose above all others: Americans still believe in the promise of public education. They believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow and contribute to their community. They believe in the power of schools that are welcoming, student-centered and focused on preparing young people not just for college or career, but for real life in the real world.

Student-Centered Mindset

When superintendents lead with a student-centered mindset, we help young people discover their agency, feel a deep sense of belonging and find purpose in their learning. We help them connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the lives they will lead beyond it. And we remind our communities that education is not a partisan issue — it’s a promise we make to our children and to America’s future.

The Public Education Promise is more than a framework. It’s a call to action. The first principle, Prioritize Student-Centered Learning, challenges us to design learning experiences that recognize the unique strengths, needs, and voices of every child. It’s about creating schools that combine academic excellence with curiosity, creativity and the confidence to keep learning long after graduation. When students are engaged, when they see relevance in what they’re learning and when they feel seen and supported, they thrive.

Words That Build Trust

Communicating that work clearly and consistently is just as essential as the work itself. That’s where the Messaging Guide comes in. It provides a shared language we can all use to describe the value of public education in ways that resonate across differences. It helps us focus on common ground — the aspirations parents and educators share for our children’s success — and equips superintendents to lead those conversations with courage and conviction.

Whether you’re speaking with your school board, meeting with parents or engaging local business leaders, your words have the power to rebuild trust and strengthen understanding. When we speak with a united voice, grounded in purpose and focused on students, we help our communities see what we see every day: the extraordinary promise of America’s public schools.

Public education is not broken. It is working in ways that transform lives, open doors and sustain the fabric of our democracy. Our challenge — and our opportunity — is to ensure more people see it that way.

Together, we can tell a better story. One that celebrates the teachers who inspire curiosity, the students who discover their potential and the communities that rally around them. One that reminds the nation that public education is not just about preparing students to take tests but preparing them for life.

The story of public education is ours to tell. It’s time we tell it boldly.

Be well, my colleagues and friends.

David Schuler is AASA executive director. Twitter: @AASA_ED