Collaboration among public sector professionals and organizations at the federal, state, and local levels continues to be essential for the proper funding, delivery, and enforcement of public education mandates. Their substantial experiences and knowledge pertaining to the intricacies of school age education are unmatched and critical for academic success by any measure. The expertise of teaching professionals and school administrators in areas such as curriculum development, teacher training, classroom pedagogy, and special needs learning is vital and should serve as the technical basis for any experiment in public school transformation. It is a fact that experienced classroom instructors are in the best positions to provide insight related to optimal classroom sizes while seasoned administrators often know best whether it makes sense to outsource student transportation services, school lunch programs, facilities management, and other support functions.

By also tapping into some of the best practices and routine proficiencies of the nonprofit, private, and religious sectors, public sector educators will certainly discover solutions to many of the systemic and structural problems that have plagued schools far too long. The combination of public sector education knowledge and private sector management strengths can produce school systems that enhance student learning and yield administrative and operational efficiencies. Partnerships between social service professionals of the nonprofit sector and classroom teachers can improve how some of the non-academic challenges are managed in the classroom. By collaborating with local churches, music and art instructors can secure facilities to house after school or weekend programs that incorporate these creative disciplines. Meaningful and relevant school improvements can occur if we are able to build upon lessons learned from previous generations of public schooling and incorporate those foundational aspects of public education that make sense in the context of a shifting K-12 paradigm.