We all want more for our children, because we all realize that our collective future depends upon intelligent, resourceful and engaged citizens. Our collective future, however, may force us to make some difficult decisions. When those times arrive, let us focus on education and our future.

To secure our future, we must provide adequate funding for all schools, regardless of whether they are located in the Twin Cities or the rural-most reaches of Minnesota. There must be a balance in education that makes it possible for students to succeed - no matter where they live. Reforming the funding formula will be one key to our future success.

Another piece of the puzzle begins at the beginning - funding early childhood education. More and more studies are telling us that early childhood education is not only important to the future success of the child, but will reduce societal costs brought about by the need for intervention such as juvenile courts, tutors, counselors and many others.

Let’s not forget the need to adequately fund special education. It turns out that the federal government is committed to providing funding for special education, but unfortunately, they haven’t fulfilled that commitment.

Another piece of the puzzle will be finding adequate measures of success - not just information that measures school and student success at one particular point in time, but measures that provide us information about student growth and measures that help us find the best instructional methods.

In the near future, Minnesota and our entire country may be faced with a vastly different economic landscape. Our choices may not be as limitless as our imaginations. We will have to define our priorities, marshal our resources, and dole out dollars very carefully. Let’s make sure that when we do so we are focused on the future. Our future success depends on a well-educated citizenry.