The Challenge

We want the best future for our kids. To have the best options and opportunities, our students must be able to compete with the best students across the nation and around the world.  High school can’t be the finish line if we want our students to have the greatest options and opportunities, and some form of postsecondary education is more critical than ever before.

Now, Arizona’s students are falling behind their national and international peers in academic achievement, high school graduation rates and postsecondary degree attainment.  Arizona’s students must graduate prepared to succeed in college and career.

Arizona’s future and the success of students depend on a high quality education system.  It is the key to our ability to attract new jobs and talent, which in turn, will fuel our economy and ensure a high quality of life for all Arizonans.

Ensuring every Arizona student has access to the highest quality education – from birth through career – means we must expect more and do more.   We must expect more of Arizona’s parents, to make sure our students are learning in the home, from the earliest years on. We must expect more of our students, so they understand their education and future success is in their hands. We must expect more of our schools, where educators increasingly have to find innovative ways to do more with less. We must expect more of our community and business leaders, our elected leaders, and our communities across the state, understanding that higher expectations for education will lead to a stronger Arizona.

It’s up to all of us to raise the bar, expecting more from ourselves, from our students and from each other.  It begins with understanding where we are, so we can envision where we need to go.