We also need to stop thinking of schools as merely academic centers and instead, see their full potential as community centers. Arne Duncan, the new Secretary of Education, is a huge proponent of the community-schools model that's been used with great success both in Chicago and in New York City, where 20 public schools partner with my organization, The Children’s Aid Society.

At community schools, the programming at Children’s Aid focuses on the needs of the whole child; on ensuring that the child is ready and able to learn; and on providing extended learning opportunities so education doesn’t stop at the 3 o’clock bell. By incorporating medical, dental and mental-health services right in the schools, children don’t have to miss a day of school to visit a clinic, or because their asthma is out of control.

By basing social and family services in the school, parents find a welcoming atmosphere that helps connect them with the services and programs they need and want. A very wide range of out-of-school time activities and academic enrichment programs, including project-based learning, team-building exercises, arts, athletics, student government and leadership opportunities create an environment that children love. Our community schools have become not just centers of learning, but centers of their communities and safe havens as well.

This is a model that works. We have 18 years of research to prove it. When a school is re-created using the community-schools model, student performance improves, attendance improves, and kids stay in the school rather than moving around. This creates stability for the child, and it means that the parents are happy enough with the education the child receives that they're willing to stay in the community and become invested in it.

If we can refocus our education system to say that math and science are just as important as reading and writing, if we can make our schools into community centers and (here’s an important one), pay teachers a wage that will attract our best and brightest to the profession, I believe we can truly reinvent our education system and sow the seeds for our future success.