What School Districts Need: Principles and Priorities for State COVID-19 Guidance and Action
Published June 2020
In response to COVID-19, state governments, including state education agencies (SEAs), are being called upon to prioritize issues, make many decisions, and take action. As they do, one key priority should be to listen to their local education agencies (LEAs) about what local leaders and their communities most need this coming year and beyond. Although each SEA should engage with its own LEAs, this document seeks to provide a starting place for those conversations. It identifies, from the school district perspective, four principles for SEAs to embrace and fourteen priorities for them to address during this critical period.
The principles and priorities were culled from interviews with and feedback from the 18 superintendents of the Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium, an invitational network of large, diverse, innovative, and leading school districts dedicated to dramatically improving excellence and equity in public education through collaboration, leadership, and advocacy. The Consortium is supported by EducationCounsel and operates in affiliation with AASA, the School Superintendents Association.