Kira Orange Jones
SVP, Regional Operations, for Teach For America & Elected Representative, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education New Orleans
What's remarkable is that it was really the kids who came forward and were like, "You're our teachers—do something. We're here. Is there gonna be school tomorrow?" And so I think that's a part of the DNA of the system that we've built and the community that we've built, and the culture of what education in this city has become is one where we believe we can do this. And so when you carry that forward, I think we now have a track record of hard-fought lessons, things we've learned, things we'd probably do differently if we could do them again. Lots of growth and things we're really proud of about a system that has, on every major metric, moved the needle for children. But here we are, still so far from where we want to be if what we're trying to create is a world-class system, and I think there's still a DNA and a culture that says, "We have the capacity to figure this out, alongside our families and our kids," and I think that is ultimately what is needed to fuel the next level of success.
