What is the purpose - and the future - of public education?

OPB spent over a dozen years following a group of students from Kindergarten through the end of High School in 2025. The result was an amazing body of stories of the real lives and experiences of students, teachers, and families as they negotiate our public education system. One of the questions we have now is: how do you measure the success of education? We’ve gathered a group of big thinkers for a conversation about public education – what it is designed to do, who it is for, and how it might be changing for a new generation of students. We talk to Kali Thorne Ladd, CEO of the Children’s Institute, Ann Ishimaru, professor at the University of Washington College of Education, Jeffrey McGee, Director of Education at Rosemary Anderson Prep, and Ryan Carpenter, Superintendent Of Estacada School District.