December 2025: School Administrator

School Administrator December 2025, colorful with illustration of a thumb filled in with a lot of faces
This issue examines how public school districts can build strong relationships with their communities and make their schools a top choice for families.

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Editor's Note
Democratic Engagement That Matters

Earlier this fall, I tuned into an hour-long livestreamed presentation led solely by the superintendent of the large county school system where I reside during which he thoughtfully and engagingly (with a measured dose of humor) laid out the necessity for $2.7 billion to address massive infrastructure needs over the next six years.

The superintendent, Thomas Taylor, was realistic in his call and opened his remarks by saying he considered the subject worthy of a discussion involving the community at large in Montgomery County, Md. I anticipate he will follow through on his pledge to deliver what Derek Gottlieb and Jack Schneider label “ongoing institutional openness.”

In this month’s cover story about reframing public education’s narrative, co-authors Gottlieb and Schneider detail what they think it will require to take on the crises that threaten to undermine the stability of public education. In its simplest form, what they seek is an equal partnership in educational matters that expands public participation and proactively secures constituent engagement.

Taylor and other superintendents seem to be in full action mode in such pursuit, and as the grandparent of three young girls just beginning their public school careers in Taylor’s schools, I am hopeful he can preserve everything we treasure most about public schooling.

Jay P. Goldman
Editor, School Administrator
 703-875-0745
 jgoldman@aasa.org
 

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