I remember my public school years with great fondness.

I was fortunate to have gone to school in a district where each school had the same resources and the same high quality results, where parent involvement was great, and students came to school rested, well-fed and ready to learn. We didn't have giant gaps in achievement among different groups of kids. Even when we went through a high school closing, our School Board demonstrated effective leadership by actively communicating with the public. Not everyone agreed with the decisions, but everyone had a voice.

Today, all three of my children are in the Minneapolis Public Schools system, and all are achieving at or ahead of the standards for their age level. All across the city, I see many kids succeeding. I see kids actively setting challenging goals and winning awards. I see proactive parent involvement at the school level and the district level. I see parents reaching beyond their specific schools to raise a collective citywide parent voice. I see teachers working hard to deliver results despite large class sizes in some of the schools, and teachers working hard in schools where decreasing enrollment means uncertainty and fewer resources.

Unfortunately, not all MPS kids have the same opportunities for achievement, or the same level of parental participation to ensure success. We can do much better. We must do much better.

Fewer than half of all of Minneapolis' kindergarten aged kids are enrolled in a kindergarten class in MPS. We continue to wring our hands over the heavy competition from charter, suburban and private schools. However, they are not the problem. We are the problem and we must be the solution.

I am proud to have earned your vote and 48,998 others to be elected to the Minneapolis School Board.