AASA’s Public Education Promise will serve as a steady throughline in Nashville, Tenn., during the 2026 National Conference on Education.

This year’s theme, The Future is Ready, reflects both urgency and optimism and aligns closely with AASA’s recently launched initiative, which calls for providing every child in every community with a highly effective education that prepares them for college, career and real life. 

The Public Education Promise is both a statement of shared values and a practical framework for action. It reflects a clear commitment to preparing students not just to graduate, but to thrive — as learners, workers, and citizens — in a world that continues to change. 

The Public Education Promise is organized around five principles: 

• Prioritize Student-Centered Learning 
• The New Basics: Real Skills for Real Life 
• Attract, Hire, Retain, and Reward the Best People 
• Build Highly Engaged Family, Community, and Business Partnerships 
• Measure What Matters 

The Public Education Promise is embedded across conference offerings in Nashville, shaping conversations in pre-conference workshops, Thought Leader sessions, education sessions and roundtables.

Topical sessions focused on student-centered learning explore how school districts are redesigning instruction, assessment and learning experiences to better reflect what students need to succeed in real life. Sessions connected to the New Basics emphasize the skills, habits and mindsets students need to navigate a rapidly changing world. 

Other sessions align closely with the emphasis on people and partnerships. Leaders will engage in learning related to attracting, developing and supporting educators, strengthening leadership pipelines and creating conditions that allow staff to grow and thrive. Additional sessions highlight how districts are building highly engaged family, community and business partnerships, recognizing that strong public schools are deeply connected to the communities they serve. 

Finally, the focus on measuring what matters is reflected in sessions that challenge traditional definitions of success and explore more meaningful ways to understand student learning, growth, and readiness. Together, these sessions offer practical examples of how districts are translating the Public Education Promise’s principles into action. 

Explicit sessions relating to PEP are these three.

> Pre-Conference workshop Feb. 11. Co-Designing the Portrait: Engaging Communities in Future-Ready Learning through the Public Education Promise.Presenters: Colon Lewis, vice president, AASA Leadership Network; and Paula Wilkins, chief academic officer, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Winston-Salem, N.C.

> Thought Leader Feb. 13. Keeping the Promise: Leading with Vision, Courage and Commitment.Presenter: Amy Cashwell, superintendent, Henrico County Public Schools, Henrico, Va.

> Thought Leader Feb. 13. Effective Instructional Designs, Instructional Strategies and Student Assessments — A Road Map for Successful Future-Focused Districts.Presenters: John Malloy, assistant executive director, AASA Leadership Network; Erin Kane, superintendent, Douglas County School District, Castle Rock, Colo.; and Bill Daggett, executive chair, Successful Practices Network, Ballston Spa, N.Y.

For leaders interested in continuing PEP-aligned learning beyond the conference, the EdLeader Promise Network offers a way to deepen and sustain this work.  The network is a national community of district leaders, lending support translating PEP’s principles into strategy, systems and day-to-day leadership decisions. 

In Nashville, attendees will have opportunities to learn more about the network and explore how it connects conference learning to sustained school district practice.

(Scott Wortman is AASA’s director of internal and member communications.)