"The future belongs to the nation who educates their children"

"The future belongs to the nation who educates their children." This quote from President Obama's speech earlier this week carries significant implications for the United States and the current state of our economy. The current economic crisis has touched nearly everyone in the country and has caused business and government alike to react to diminishing revenue streams. We may long for the "good old days" but, as many economists have suggested, the "good old days" may not have been as good as we think they were and they may not return.

But one thing is for sure. High quality education increases economic wealth through improved productivity. The challenge now is not to attempt to maintain the status-quo but to continue to move forward and provide an even more effective and robust education system even as revenue streams diminish. We need to identify the core of instruction. What skills and knowledge must our graduates possess in the 21st century to successfully compete with peers in India, Japan, China and Germany? How do we restructure education to accomplish this herculean task? How do we prepare students for a world with accelerating rates of change? The risks of not meeting this challenge are enormous for each student and for our state and country.

None of this is easy to accomplish. Fortunately, both public and private institutions have produced volumes of quality, replicable research to help point the way. Sometimes the research contradicts commonly held beliefs developed over time. After all, we all spent many years in school and we know "how it is done." If we are preparing students to work in factories we should utilize a factory model of education; bells, straight rows, similarity of tasks, movement from one unrelated task to another, student workers and boss teachers, etc. But, if we are in a post-industrial age then our education system needs to reflect this change. We need to insure that coming to school is not like visiting a history museum. While I would love to think that educational professionals are so powerful that we can change society, in fact, schools reflect society.

Schools also reflect their community. A community that demands and expects a vibrant, high-quality education system that changes to meet the needs of our students will produce successful graduates. Schools living with success made yesterday will graduate students who will find some career paths closed to them because of a lack of preparation. We are fortunate to live and work in Genesee, an education-minded community that has supported hiring the best staff, providing facilities that are safe and conducive to learning, and electing school trustees who put kids before personal agendas.

As we continue to restructure to meet future challenges your input and help will be needed. Thank you for your support of education.