Educators are innovators.
In my nearly thirty years as a public school educator, I have been searching for ways to unshackle secondary students, to honor their personal stories and help them overcome obstacles that stand in their way.
The factory model that has dominated secondary education from the dawn of the high school movement in the late nineteenth century to the present has shackled the latent creative and innovative energies of students, culminating in a lack of faith in the promise of what public schools purport to deliver.
My opportunity as superintendent has been to build systems that move away from the factory model and toward an institution that fulfills the promise of schools as opportunity engines. Make no mistake, this transformative model is not a “new shiny object.” Placing teachers and instruction at the forefront of change requires stepwise, persistent, systemic commitment to a new North Star. The work is complicated, complex, and at times discouraging, but we have made substantial progress preparing young people for meaningful careers and life.
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Michael Matsuda
Anaheim Union High School District, Superintendent
