In June 2025, AASA unveiled their roadmap for approaching this work (the Public Education Promise), and NCE provided the opportunity for superintendents and other school and district leads, as well as solution providers, to share challenges, insights, and best practices. Edlio spent the week talking with superintendents from across the country, and what we heard echoed our recent experience at ERDI, as well as the conversations we’ve been having with existing partners.
News from the Show Floor: Finding Ways to Engage All Stakeholders
AASA’s Conference Daily Online provided a roundup of sessions, announcements, and events from the show floor each day, where communications and engagement strategies were consistent topics.
- Keynote speaker Joe Sanfelippo emphasized the importance of storytelling for engagement in his address, as well as building a culture of celebrating success.
- Superintendent Heidi Sipe of the Umatilla School District and Superintendent Zandra Jo Galván of Salinas Union High School District led a session on engaging students by using social media to elevate their voices.
- The Donovan Group led a panel discussion on how new superintendents can build trust and engagement by creating a strong communications infrastructure in their districts.
Challenging Budgets and Tool Fatigue
While district leaders talked about innovating in both tools and engagement strategies for future-ready education, they also spoke about the challenges they’re facing on many fronts. From a technology standpoint, two themes in particular we heard about again and again from superintendents. One of those themes was the budget challenges districts are dealing with as they navigate this year and plan for next. Superintendents are facing hard decisions and having to do more with less.
Some of those hard decisions are around what technology tools they will be investing in, which is tied to another recurring theme. Inside and outside of the classroom, many districts have amassed a myriad of point solutions over the years, and they find themselves managing too many disconnected platforms, at too large a cost. Districts are looking to consolidate and streamline existing tools, while prioritizing all-in-one solutions for new investments. Most importantly, the tools they are investing in need to work together and align with their long-term strategy.
Solidifying the Foundation for Future-Ready Education
Despite the challenges school and district leaders are facing, there was a great deal of enthusiasm about the vision of future-ready education. That enthusiasm was coupled with a recognition that schools and districts all need to examine the foundation they are currently building on, reinforcing their strengths, rebuilding areas of weakness, and connecting everything with a coherent strategy. To ensure a solid foundation, schools and districts will need to engage their entire ecosystem, as they cannot do this work alone.
