- I believe that institutions of public education owe communities a free, quality education.
- I believe that all students, regardless of age, gender, race, intellectual or physical handicap are capable of learning and that diversity is one of the most valuable tools an educator can employ.
- I believe that every effort must be made to educate every student and that every opportunity to learn must be maximized.
- I believe that learning must be an enjoyable and active process that takes place through exploration, discovery, and experimentation.
- I believe that successes should be celebrated, not hollowly, but genuinely.
- I believe that knowing a student’s “story” is key in finding ways to teach that student and that differentiation is not just a good idea, but an integral part of any educational plan.
- I believe that educational institutions should provide feedback that helps students and stakeholders understand a student’s learning styles, strengths, and weaknesses.
- I believe that students should learn to be thinkers, problem solvers, and doers; and learn best when they are encouraged to be thinkers, problem solvers, and doers.
- I believe that the responsibility of education begins with the individual, extends to relationships with the community, and finally with the world.
- I believe that due process protects educational rights.
- I believe that standards help create equity in public education.
- I believe that rubric-based instruction equals more effective instruction.
- I believe that authentic assessment is the most valid assessment.
- I believe that teachers who fail to check for understanding, who do not try to find out what their students know or have learned, build walls around their content, making it inaccessible to students.
- I believe that failure to integrate technology into the classroom is failure to educate.
- I believe that AI is not on the horizon, but is already here.
- I believe that the community’s perception of a school or educational program is as “real” as reality.
- I believe that only a stakeholder can be an active participant. Therefore, our students and community members need to be made to see themselves as stakeholders in our systems.
- I believe that schools should provide an environment for learning that is safe, orderly, and caring.
- I believe that a school should provide a moral compass for its community.
- I believe that teachers will work harder in a program that they help shape and in which they believe.
- I believe that failure and hardships are opportunities to make improvements.
- I believe that an effective school establishes and communicates high expectations for success, regardless of the backgrounds of its students.
- I believe that repeating the same process expecting different results is not a sound practice.
- I believe that change is a positive, not negative, aspect of education.
- I believe that education is an ever-changing, continuous process by which one learns to deal successfully with his or her environment.
- I believe that expectations need to be clearly stated and publicly posted.
- I believe that, when it comes to education, substantive fairness is better than procedural fairness.
- I believe that goal setting needs to be a collective effort and that the analysis of data is key in determining what goals are to be set.
- I believe that only measurable goals can be truly “met.”
- I believe that fear is only a temporary motivator and is the least effective of all motivators.
- I believe that a leader needs to know his/her followers.
- I believe that a principal needs to be accessible to his/her faculty.
- I believe that teachers need to be life-long learners continuing to grow and develop professionally.
- I believe that administrators who are life-long learners create faculties of life-long learners.
- I believe that listing SOLs on the board is meaningless, but listing objectives on the board is of great meaning.
- I believe that working more is not the same as working harder; but working smarter is working better.