SPN envisions a future where every child has the chance to pursue an education in an environment where they can thrive. We believe that when education supports students in reaching their full potential, the next generation of Americans will be prepared to face 21st century challenges.

Our vision is rooted in the following guiding principles:

• Empowering Parents: Parents and guardians are the rightful decision-makers in their child’s education. We advance policies that provide them with the freedom to choose the educational environment that best serves the unique needs of their child and aligns with their values and beliefs. Parents have options—not limited by ZIP code or income—and exercise those options.
• Decentralizing Education: We strive for a system that minimizes bureaucracy by authorizing local communities to advocate for bottom-up solutions to local problems. By decentralizing education, we aim to increase flexibility and responsiveness to the diverse preferences of students and their families.
• Unbundling: We affirm that education “unbundled” fosters innovation and a culture of continuous, incremental improvement. We support policies that not only permit but promote pluralism. We commit to champion this not only because we inherently value it, but because we surmise the availability of more high-quality options in the education marketplace will result in improved academic outcomes.
• Personalizing Learning: Each child is an individual with distinct strengths, struggles, and learning styles. We endorse a varied range of teaching models, methods, and curricula to accommodate these differences, prioritizing student success over preserving the status quo.
• Protecting Freedom of Thought: We stand for intellectual freedom. Children should be taught how to think, not what to think. We encourage educators and students to engage in open dialogue, explore different perspectives, and challenge ideas without fear of censorship or indoctrination.
• Responsibility: We expect transparent and accountable stewardship of public dollars in education spending. We advocate on behalf of all stakeholders in America’s K-12 education ecosystem: students, parents and guardians, educators, and taxpayers.
• Joyful, Lifelong Learning: Education does not begin or end with schooling. We covet K-12 learning environments that spark curiosity and a true love of learning. This recognizes the importance of openness to growth and the desire for unabating education and skill development—beyond the classroom, college, or career—but throughout an individual’s life.

By honoring these principles, SPN will play its part in making “education” not a means to an end that merely prepares students for life after graduation, but an endeavor so innate it is inextricable from life itself. Our work will not be complete until education in America extends every child the opportunity to acquire the wisdom, develop the discipline of critical thinking, and build the pluck necessary to become an informed, engaged, and self-reliant member of civil society.

	Jane McEnaney Director of Education Policy Initiatives jmcenaney@spn.org
	Katherine Bathgate Senior Advisor for Education Strategy
	Lila Fraser Policy Associate

Christie Herrera Government Affairs Leadership Fellow

Kerry McDonald Velinda Jonson Family Education Fellow

Whitney Vogrinec Advisor for Education Strategy

Working Group — Participation in the working group is voluntary. Invitation to the working group is determined by the policy priorities SPN members indicate in the Membership Renewal Survey and SPN staff capacity constraints. We continue to expand our working group capacity to incorporate more members.

State Solutions Grant Fund — Invitation to issue campaign grants is determined by available funds and donor intent.

Breaking the Monopoly of ESA Implementation