Carissa Moffat Miller, CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers: Imagining a Modernized K-12 System

While there’s little that matches the excitement a new school year brings, it’s tempered somewhat this year by the need to continue recovering from the many disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning loss, declining enrollments and increases in behavioral problems are just a few of the issues that education leaders are grappling with. Our WorkforceRx guest, Carissa Moffat Miller, is in the thick of efforts to help school system leaders find potential solutions as CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). “This disruption has created an opportunity for us to think about things differently, and for state chiefs to change the ecosystem of school,” she tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. There are some new programmatic options to consider in doing that thanks to $190 billion in federal funding that allowed states to experiment with different approaches to tutoring, after school programs and digital learning, among other initiatives. One of CCSSO’s key roles, Moffat Miller says, is sharing examples of what worked coming out of that process and highlighting best practices on a continuing basis. And while keeping a close eye on recovery, her members are also looking forward as reflected in the new report Imagining More: How State Education Agencies Can Modernize the K-12 System. “The chiefs see their role as setting conditions and clearing a path for districts who are ready to take the next step.” Tune in to hear examples of what’s working across the country to improve K-12 education and what role employers can play in supporting state education goals.