The Future of Public Education

Barnett Berry is a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute.  He previously served as a high school teacher, a professor of education leadership, and a senior policy leader for a state education agency. In the 1990s, he led the state policy and partnership efforts for the National Commission on Teaching and America′s Future. Building on the Commission’s goal to transform the teaching profession, in 1999, he founded the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ). For 20 years, he led CTQ, a non-profit,  to advance a bold brand of teacher leadership needed to both improve and transform public education. Two of his books, TEACHING 2030 (2010), Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead But Don′t Leave (2013) frame a bold vision for the profession′s future. In 2021, Barnett was honored by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards with the James A. Kelly Award for Advancing Accomplished Teaching. In 2024, he began working with the University of Kanas and its Center for Reimagining Education — supporting teachers and students together in using Artificial Intelligence to reimagine public schools and the teaching profession.Michael Matsuda, the Superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District since 2014, is known for his district’s approach to innovation, entrepreneurship, and compassion. He has transformed educational opportunities for students through initiatives like reverse engineered career pathways and data-sharing agreements with higher education institutions. Mike has been recognized by Education Week’s National Leaders to Learn From, California State University- Fullerton’s Visionary Education Leadership Award, and University of California-Irvine’s Community Partner of the Year. Mike is also the co-author, alongside David Brazer, Educating for Purposeful Life (2023), which initially uplifted the school district efforts to transform public education. Mike developed the AIME (Anaheim Innovative Mentoring Experience) program, creating mentorships for over 10,000 high school students with over 120 business and non-profit partners. In 2024, he conceptualized the national K-12 AI Summit, drawing leaders from across the country focusing on enhancing human and emotional development through the promise of AI. In 2025, he was honored by ConnectED, a national non-profit focused on bridge efforts to prepare young people for career, college, and life, as one of its Pathway Trailblazer Award recipients.Michael Fullan, Order of Canada, is the former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and Professor Emeritus of the University of Toronto. He is co-leader of the New Pedagogies for Deep Learning global initiative. Michael served as Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Special Policy Adviser in Ontario from 2003-2013. He received the Order of Canada (OC) in December 2012 and holds five honorary doctorates from universities around the world. His ‘interim autobiography,’ Surreal Change, covers his pre-Covid-19 era to 2018. Michael and his colleagues are now working diligently on field-based comprehensive system change in several countries. Under the umbrella of what they call the ‘humanity paradigm’ —equitable-equal deep change that integrates local (school and community), middle (district/regional), and centre (policy) entities. Michael’s latest books are: Spirit Work and the Science of Collaboration (with Mark Edwards, 2022), The Principal 2.0 (2023), The Drivers (with Joanne Quinn, 2023), and The New Meaning of Educational Change, 6th Edition (2025).For more information on books, articles, videos, podcasts please go to: www.michaelfullan.ca

For those who want to understand the vision and the journey toward a whole child education system, this book offers both a comprehensive picture and a vivid roadmap. A must-read for those who want to understand how educational change can connect young people to their community and their futures.

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsOur WhyPrologue: Moving From Aimlessness to SystemnessFrom Aimlessness: How Have We Missed the Mark?The Anaheim Story in BriefToward SystemnessThe Flow of the BookThe Moves AheadChapter 1: Beginning With Teachers and Students TogetherThe Challenges in Public Education, 2025System Change With Teachers and StudentsGenuine ConnectionsSpace for InnovationsThe Unlimited YouThe Emotional QuotientThe Forward PushKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 2: Tracing the AUHSD JourneyReshaping the NarrativeDigging DeeperThe Journey’s BeginningThe 5C Innovative ArchitectureeKadence and the Journey ForwardKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 3: Developing Teachers as System ThinkersSystem Thinking for SystemnessSystemness Thinking and the Teaching ProfessionJason CollarSabina GiakoumisThe Team at Walker Junior HighKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 4: 8 Factors for Systemness: The Individual StanceThinking Big, Starting Small, Learning FastFactor #1: Shared Purpose/MeaningFactor #2: BelongingFactor #3: TimeFactor #4: AutonomyKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 5: 8 Factors for Systemness: The Collective StanceFactor #5: Good LeadersFactor #6: Teachers and Students TogetherFactor #7: Community LinkageFactor #8: Artificial IntelligenceKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 6: Reimagining a Teaching Profession, With Teachers and Students TogetherAdvancing Teaching as a ProfessionTeachers With StudentsA Reimagined Teaching ProfessionThe Social Side of Learning and LeadershipSchools Designed for Distributing ExpertiseTalent Development SystemsKey Principles of a Reimagined ProfessionKey Takeaways and Reflective QuestionsChapter 7: Breaking Through to Systemness: The Next Five YearsInnovation Design Steeped in Transcendent ThinkingAUHSD’s 8-Factor InteractiveThe Journey ContinuesAUHSD Systemness Journey: 2025–2030The Deeper Learning Road Map to SystemnessSystem Conditions for Spread and SustainabilityThe Rise of Public EducationEpilogue: Entering More Complex TerrainForward MovementThe Internal SystemThe External SystemA Hopeful FutureAppendixDeeper Learning Road Map: Assessing Strengths and OpportunitiesIndex