And we must refocus upon student learning as our primary mission. By focusing the agenda on learning, we as board members can serve as the catalysts of hope we need to be. The experts tell us leadership is about many things, but the heart of leadership lies in the heart of leaders. If we are about courage, spirit, and hope, we will not fail. I want to see more leaders who are about building cathedrals of hope and fewer who are about building shopping malls of cynicism and despair.
Real progress comes in incremental steps over long periods of time.
As leaders of our public schools, we must nurture the aspirations of our children and our communities by demonstrating that our most difficult problems can be solved, that our collective efforts matter, and that as a people, and a nation, we can become whatever we want to be. We as school board members must never lose sight of the fact that we are about children and their common welfare. Just as you welcome guests into your home and treat them as if they were the most important people in the world, we should ensure that our schools do no less for every child.