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Introducing One Day

Letter from Wendy Kopp

Dear Alumni,

After a little break, our alumni magazine is back, new and improved. We hope One Day will foster a stronger network among alumni, advance our collective thinking, and bring our experiences of teaching and working in our nation's most economically disadvantaged communities to bear in the broader discussion of what it will take to achieve educational excellence and equity. Maximizing the potential of this forum will require your active readership and contributions. We encourage you to use this magazine to share your perspectives with others committed to the same end, and also to shape and inform your own views.

This issue aims to spark discussion about the No Child Left Behind Act. As you know, this law represents the first time we as a nation have come together across the political aisle to commit ourselves to making measurable progress in closing the gap in educational outcomes that persists along socioeconomic and racial lines. As the act comes up for reauthorization this year, it seems appropriate to step back and consider whether it is working and how we can make it stronger.

No Child Left Behind raises so many questions about how we can move public education forward and about the appropriate roles of federal, state, and local agencies in this pursuit. Can a federal law that holds local agencies accountable for closing the achievement gap play a constructive role? Or will the consequences of having a federal mandate that may not have the buy-in of all state and local officials and cannot account for each varying local circumstance outweigh the advantages? Can we address the challenges we see in the law's implementation by tweaking it, as Rebecca Flores (p. 19) contends, or is the law fundamentally flawed, as Jeff Good (p. 19) argues? These were among the questions that came to mind as I read the range of viewpoints from alumni and other experts featured in the pages that follow. I hope this issue will inspire a discussion among us in a way that advances the debate and hones our own perspectives. To weigh in with your view, please write to us at onedayletters@teachforamerica.org.

As we continue debating the best ways to catalyze fundamental progress at a policy level, I am so inspired to see what corps members and alumni are accomplishing in communities across the country. This issue spotlights the efforts of those among you who committed yourselves to helping the children and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina last year, and those who continue working to ensure that as New Orleans rebuilds it creates a school system that offers kids the opportunities they deserve. We look forward to providing a more consistent forum for discussion and for staying in touch with each other and with the extraordinary possibilities that exist in the movement to ensure that one day all children in our nation have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Best,

Wendy Kopp
President & Founder