Introduction
“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” —Socrates
A Guide for Public Education
Policy Making, Governance, and Funding for Public Schools
As a retired public education superintendent in Pennsylvania and CEO/principal of a highly effective urban charter high school in Pittsburgh, PA, my 32-year career has formed the foundation of a compelling vision of what our public schools need to become in the 21st century to increase the probability that all students will be career-, college-, and work-ready upon high school graduation. A “New 21st Century Promise for Student and Teacher Success” must guide public education policy making, governance, and funding. As the owner/operator of the LLC, H.E.L.P. Human Engagement for Learning & Productivity, I look for clients that have the will to redesign and imagine public schools for all students’ success in the 21st century, where grades of “D” are no longer passing and the minimum grade of “C” is reachable by providing equitable supports for all students to grow to their maximum potential. 
Dr. Sofo was recently honored by the PCPCS (Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools).
Dr. Sofo was recently honored by the PCPCS (Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools).Furthermore, for urban quality options to be equitably available for all students, there needs to be a reinvention of the traditional urban school system to a system of quality schools accessible to all students, particularly those traditionally underserved by urban school districts over the past 25 years. Quality urban schools for all youth that have a high probability of delivering on the “New 21st Century Promise for Student and Teacher Success” requires governance, policy, and funding systems that have at their center the capacity to generate and sustain diverse quality options for students as well as close schools that cannot deliver effective and relevant educational outcomes.
H.E.L.P. Human Engagement for Learning & Productivity strives to explore the possibilities and create quality educational options in which both students and their teachers successfully strive to become effective lifelong learners where “success is the only option” for all youth.
Dr. Paul Spradley Show’s interview with Dr. Ron Sofo, retired public school superintendent(Freedom Area SD, Beaver County, PA) and City Charter High School Principal/ CEO (Pittsburgh, PA) on designing 21st century public schools for ALL students to be career and life ready.
