After a year of conversations with educators, parents, and kids—and now, deep into summer reflection—it’s clearer than ever: we’re facing something urgent. This goes far deeper than test scores or school rankings. Public schools have become the front lines of support for our children, our families, and our future. And yet, we’re still trying to hold them up with systems built for a world that no longer exists.
Today’s public schools are doing more than they’ve ever been asked to do, with heart. But they’re being asked to solve problems they didn’t create, and without the tools they need. That has to change.
Because the truth is, the world has drastically changed.
Decades ago, the U.S. education system was built assuming a society — whether real or imagined — where schools taught academics and parents reinforced those lessons at home. Where kids learned social and emotional behavior around the dinner table, and the school’s job was to sharpen math skills and teach history.
But in 2025, that model is a relic.
This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about reality. Today, most households have all available adults working, often more than one job. Many families are doing their absolute best, but they’re stretched thin by long hours, rising costs, and fewer supports.
Communities, too, have changed. The support systems that used to wrap around children — things like neighborhood networks, extended families, churches and community centers — they don’t play the same substantial roles they once did.
So, more and more, schools have become the place where everything happens: academics, yes, but also emotional development, mental health care, crisis response, even nutrition. In many cases, schools are the only stable element in a child’s life.
And educators? They’ve stepped up. Again and again.
They’re doing far more than they were trained for or signed up for. They’re not just teaching math and reading. They’re supporting students through trauma. They’re noticing when a child might need a meal, or a safe place to live, or just someone to listen.
It’s inspiring. And it’s unsustainable without the right support.
Local schools remain among the most trusted institutions in the country, even as Americans’ faith in other major institutions has declined. That trust is a gift, but if we want our schools to keep rising to the moment, then we need to rise with them.
That means funding schools for the world we live in now—not the one we left decades ago. Our classrooms are more diverse than ever; in my own community, at the small elementary school my kids attend, students speak over 40 different languages at home.
The poverty landscape has also shifted: Income inequality has grown substantially in the last 30 years. The demands on working families are growing, while income inequality has been increasing dramatically. After decades of decline, income inequality now hearkens back to levels similar to those during the Great Depression. Since the 1980s, the rich are getting richer as the poor are getting poorer.
And employment is not enough to prevent economic instability. In the U.S. today, more than 15 million low-wage workers are raising children, and one in 10 are single parents. Their jobs often include unpredictable schedules, and inadequate or nonexistent benefits.
Schools have become the social safety net for everything from mental health care to food access and family support—yet we’re still funding them like it’s 1995, not 2025.
We need continued investment in community schools that offer wraparound services like mental health care, food access, and family support. We need updated funding that reflects real student needs. We need staffing that reflects what’s actually being asked of schools in 2025.
And we need to stop treating “burnout” like it’s a buzzword. It’s real. And it’s rising. Educators need time, resources and respect to do this work in a way that’s sustainable and fulfilling.
Next time you hear another politician or newspaper point fingers about school rankings and scores, remember that schools today are accomplishing more than they were ever designed to do. That’s heroism.
But heroism can’t be the plan. We need a new plan.
Let’s stop asking schools to do everything and then blaming them when it’s not enough. Let’s invest in the future we say we believe in. And let’s stop pretending that doing more with less is a strategy.
Because when we treat schools like the centers of our communities, amazing things happen. We see students thrive. We see communities grow stronger. And we see the promise of public education fulfilled in powerful, tangible ways.
This isn’t about going back to some idealized past. It’s about meeting this moment — and the next — with clarity and with courage.
It’s time we build an education system that reflects the world we live in now, not the one we remember. One that supports every student, every family, and every educator — because that’s what our future depends on.
Melinda Person is president of the nearly 700,000-member New York State United Teachers.
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