Principles

Ten Principles

1. Schools Support Civic Self-Government
2. Education Develops Human Potential and Economic Security
3. Protect Freedom of Conscience and Pluralism
4. Knowledge Is the Foundation for Critical Thinking
5. Strong Schools Support Strong Institutions
6. Policy and Budgets Must Serve All Students
7. Public Tax Dollars Must Remain Public and Accountable
8. Keep Students Out of Partisan Culture Wars
9. The Educator Shortage Is a Structural Policy Failure
10. Education Requires Long-Term Planning

1. Schools Support Civic Self-Government

Public schools should prepare each generation to take part in civic life. A self-governing republic depends on people who understand its history, institutions, and responsibilities. They need the knowledge and judgment to evaluate evidence, engage across differences, and preserve the institutions of liberty for those who follow them.

2. Education Develops Human Potential and Economic Security

Education should help every person discover and develop their abilities. Students deserve the chance to pursue meaningful work, economic security, and lives of purpose and independence. When people can contribute their knowledge, creativity, and service, their communities benefit too.

3. Protect Freedom of Conscience and Pluralism

A free society gives each person room to explore questions of meaning, morality, faith, and purpose. Public schools can teach about diverse religious and philosophical traditions while protecting every student’s freedom of conscience. They should neither impose belief nor discourage it, and they should prepare young people to live alongside neighbors who may arrive at different answers.

4. Knowledge Is the Foundation for Critical Thinking

Students cannot think critically about what they do not know. A shared foundation in history, science, civics, mathematics, and culture gives them the material to reason, evaluate evidence, and take part in public life. Knowledge and critical thinking work together in the pursuit of truth.

5. Strong Schools Support Strong Institutions

Healthy societies rely on strong, trustworthy institutions that create opportunity and serve the common good. Public schools are central among them because they prepare future generations for citizenship, work, and community life. Institutions exist to serve people. In turn, they need the trust, participation, and stewardship of the people they serve.

6. Policy and Budgets Must Serve All Students

A state’s budget is a moral document. Policy and spending should reflect a lasting obligation to educate every child. Every child deserves access to a high-quality education regardless of zip code, family income, race, disability, or circumstance. Public investment in education supports the future prosperity and well-being of the whole society.

7. Public Tax Dollars Must Remain Public and Accountable

Public resources should strengthen public goods. Diverting education funds to private systems weakens the institutions responsible for every child and community. Families should have meaningful choices, but public dollars should stay focused on public schools, better outcomes, and equal opportunity. Their use must remain open to public oversight.

8. Keep Students Out of Partisan Culture Wars

Students should not become proxies in adult political fights. Turning classrooms into ideological battlegrounds distracts from education and erodes public trust. Policy should put academic achievement, student well-being, civic understanding, and human development ahead of short-term political theater.

9. The Educator Shortage Is a Structural Policy Failure

There is no natural shortage of talented people who could become excellent educators. The shortage grows from systems that fail to provide sustainable working conditions, professional respect, adequate compensation, classroom support, and clear pathways for success. With better policy and renewed investment in those who serve students, dignity can return to the profession and the educator pipeline can be rebuilt.

10. Education Requires Long-Term Planning

Education policy should be made for the years ahead, not for the next news cycle or election. Annual test scores and political wins cannot measure the whole work of education. Schools, families, educators, and communities need stable, predictable, multi-year commitments so they can plan for the next generation.

A Flourishing Republic

The strength of our republic is inseparable from the strength of its schools. Strong schools help people flourish. Flourishing people strengthen families and communities. Strong communities sustain institutions. Strong institutions support a healthy republic. The longer A Worthy Mission statement explains why this public responsibility is worth preserving and improving.