Our children are our future. Education is at the heart at developing their skills and abilities and yet year after year we hear about the degrading state of our educational system. Our nation has spent trillions of dollars on failed programs that research and experts had promised would work. Achievement gaps persist, performance declines are accelerating and so it is of paramount importance that we explore novel ideas and solutions. You might not agree with many or any of the ideas below, and we certainly are not endorsing policies – our hope is just to create a space where bright, dedicated folks from the community can share their ideas – so that we can all come together and better understand each others experiences, concerns and how we might move forward together to build a brighter future.

Mecaila Diaz

I think the biggest change we need is to take the pressure off students to have their entire future figured out at 18. My path hasn’t been traditional, and I’m grateful for that. I went to college right after high school, but a couple years in, I took time off to work, save money, and figure out what I actually wanted. Read more>>

Kevin Byington

I have two teenage sons—18 and 17. One just graduated, and the other is a senior this year. (Yes, Irish twins)

If I could change a few things in public education system to help prepare students for real life, I’d start with financial literacy. Teach them how loans work, how to open a bank account, buy a car, invest in stocks and most importantly, how to manage credit. These aren’t “nice to knows”—they’re must-knows. Read more>>

Trevor Little

-Young people should stay out of secondary education until they experience the world, have to pay their own bills, and be independent long enough to see there is way more to life than school. You grow up and change more between 18-28 than you did before or will after. An unfortunate fact is experience is valued more than anything in the real world, getting it before education will give you an enormous leg up. Read more>>

Amber Waters

I am a small business owner. I am a metalsmith primarily working in silver and occasionally other metals as well as semi precious stones. This is in addition to the fact that I have been a full time High School Art Teacher for 26 years. I think students have become fearful of risk in our current society. They fear failure. I have students who I know could have a successful career literally right now at a young age but the fear of failure often impedes their drive. I also fear the work ethic in youth has changed significantly. Instant gratification has become way to common. I try to teach resilience and perseverance in my studio. It’s something the students aren’t being taught enough. Risks lead to mistakes which lead to experience and knowledge gained. Especially in creative fields! Read more>>

Devamsh Manoj

If I could change one thing about the education system, it would be to focus more on practical skills and repetition-based learning instead of just theoretical knowledge. From my own experience, especially with the CBSE syllabus, I noticed how much easier it was to excel when I consistently practiced and recalled concepts. That’s why I’m so passionate about projects like Scholarix, where the goal is to help students succeed by leveraging repetition and recall techniques. Read more>>