Schooling for the future in United States of America: Educational policy at the crossroads

A purposive sample of 10 senior educational policy leaders was interviewed for this Phase 2 of the study from across the US. Interview participants argued the need for: (1) more clearly defining the purpose and value of public education to the communities served; (2) the development of new stakeholder partnerships to accomplish this end; (3) visionary leadership to bring different and sometimes polarized groups together around the need for a quality system of public education; and (4) attracting the very best college graduates to a career of teaching as a professional. If these were accomplished, then the prospects for the favored ‘re-schooling’ scenarios becoming ‘best practice’ would improve greatly.