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Study Group Member Statement

We, the members of the Legislative International Education Study Group, recognize that our work is particularly relevant in the time of a global pandemic. The pandemic’s profound disruption of education—including the challenges of distance learning that schools, students and families faced—exacerbated persistent inequities in the system and created a new urgency for systemic reform.

The pandemic also changed the workforce, accelerating the use of artificial intelligence and automation. This will require a new level of skill for students, better coordination between parts of the education system and opportunities for lifelong learning.

We know many parents, teachers and students are exhausted after three years of disrupted learning, eager for normalcy and sick of calls for further change. Students and teachers are working very hard to recover. But they are working in broken systems that are no longer designed for success, and we cannot continue ignore this difficult reality. Silver bullets and siloed policies will not fix this.  Instead, we must reimagine and rebuild for success based on policies and practices that work.

Our job as legislators is to work with other policymakers and align resources to create a world-class state statutory framework. Our mission as education policymakers is to ensure that every teacher and student can do their best work in a world-class system that supports them to thrive now and in the future. With the right tools, mindset and collaborative spirit, we can accomplish this goal.

THE TIME IS NOW to reimagine and rebuild an education system that meets our current challenges and workforce needs. We must seize this opportunity to create a better tomorrow for every child. 

Related Resources

Teacher and Principal Policy Toolkit

This policy toolkit provides a wide variety of resources around the recruitment, preparation and retention of educators as well as information on teacher shortages and preparation program terminology.

Pre-K-12 Education Legislation Database

The Education database tracks state legislation on more than 50 Pre-K-12 education issues, including curriculum, educators, finance and student supports (2023 to present).
Database
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