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Chances are, given that you're reading Horace, you are affiliated with the Coalition of Essential Schools (and before I continue, I must pause and note that if your school, the organization with which you work, or you are not affiliated with CES, you should be!). Membership, as we have often heard, has its privileges, and one of the most valuable privileges of CES membership is the ability to connect with like-minded educators, families, and school advocates to share strategies, create better schools, and transform education for all students nationwide.
Meeting with or reading about other CES schools creates simultaneous feelings of familiar kinship and surprising differences. CES contradictorily yet harmoniously believes that no two schools are alike; we treasure innovation, even idiosyncrasy. Each of our schools is a unique creation in a particular location with a distinct population. At the same time, we hold in common the ten Common Principles - and that commonality gives us the potential for collective power. The thousands of us that are members of the Coalition of Essential Schools need to continue find ways to work together to influence local, state, and national policies. We have the ability to raise our voices to insist on what we believe are the best conditions for students, families, educators, and communities. And our schools and students have the evidence to persuade the uncaring, the doubtful and - we hope - at least some of the oppositional.
As it enters its third decade, CES National is developing strategies that will establish us - all of us - as leading advocates for student-centered, meaningful education that places power, judgment, and trust in the hands of teachers, students, families, and local communities. Through Fall Forum, CESChangeLab and the work of the Small Schools Project, our publications, the CES National website, and as many other venues as we can devise, we will be sharing strategies and asking for your help. Those of us at CES National feel deeply privileged to be part of a network of so many schools dedicated to helping students use their minds well. We are committed to helping all CES schools and to growing the CES network so that such schools become the embodiment of what the public expects from a great education.
This issue of Horace looks at schools and their advocates in New York State, Albuquerque, New Mexico, the San Francisco Bay Area, and across the CES network as they influence local, state, and national educational policy. You will come away with ideas about how to create alliances, develop communication strategies, identify your school community's strengths, and work outside your school with key partners. Thanks to all contributors to this issue - as always, working with CES educators, leaders, and families is a joy and a constant education.
Jill Davidson
Editor, Horace