Across the country, Americans often hear that public K-12 education is only partisan and polarized, leaving improvement stagnant. However, the real story is that collaboration and progress are possible when leaders prioritize people and opportunity over politics.
While stories of division make headlines, they ignore what’s happening on the ground. In statehouses and education agencies nationwide, leaders in red and blue states are working together to improve student outcomes. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that the work is not easy. Politics is messy. Education policy touches deeply held values, fiscal priorities, and local control. Disagreement is real. From our lived experiences as education leaders, we know how our action (or inaction) directly affects our students.
That knowledge guides bipartisan work happening in states across the country. State leaders continue to find practical ways to come together to strengthen public education, providing evidence that collaborative education policymaking is possible and effective.
Bipartisan progress does not start with agreement. It starts with discipline.
In our states (Alabama, Connecticut, and Texas) and our experience at the Education Commission of the States (which helps education leaders learn from each other’s successes and challenges), initiatives ranging from early literacy to expanded learning time to high-quality instructional materials reform have required cooperation across administrations and political parties. Crucially, what sustains these efforts is less about political agreement across both sides of the aisle and more about structures that support collaboration. It is about:
- Including teachers in instructional materials review.
- Implementing evidence-based practices and data transparency.
- Presenting facts without judgment.
- Keeping lines of communication open.
- Being open to constructive feedback.
- Ensuring that no single party can claim ownership of what should be broadly supported best practices.
When leaders center decisions on evidence and opportunity for students, it becomes more difficult to reduce those decisions to partisan narratives.
Because best practices are not partisan. Period.
Education policy ultimately reaches far beyond schools. It shapes whether communities grow, whether businesses can find skilled workers, and whether families believe the next generation will have greater opportunity than the last. When state leaders work across the aisle on education, they are not simply improving schools; they are strengthening the foundations of stronger communities and shared prosperity.
Trust is built in hard moments.
Every state leader can point to moments when collaboration nearly broke down: debates over school finance, standards revisions, teacher-preparation policies, or federal funding uncertainties. In those moments, progress depends less on persuasion and more on transparency: When conversations grow heated, turn to “This is what we know,” or “Here is what the data tell us.” Not an accusation. Not a slogan. Just facts.
Providing consistent, reliable information not only lowers the temperature but also allows leaders to disagree honestly without questioning motives. It creates space for tough questions while keeping everyone at the table.
That’s why staying at the table matters: Progress becomes possible when leaders choose purpose over partisanship.
Bipartisan work is rarely one-and-done. It requires leaders willing to return to the conversation again and again, especially with people who see issues differently.
Durability is the true test. To be effective, education initiatives must survive leadership transitions. Governors change. Legislatures shift. State chiefs depart. Board members rotate. Federal funding ebbs and flows. Policies closely tied to a single party or administration often struggle to endure. Those built through shared ownership—across agencies, communities, and parties—are more likely to last.
In our states, we’ve seen literacy initiatives, such as the Alabama Reading Initiative and Connecticut’s Right to Read legislation, flourish across political cycles. We’ve seen revisions and new processes like the Texas Instructional Material Review and Adoption process adopted after sustained dialogue with educators, families, and community groups.
Ultimately, the common denominator is not ideology but a shared commitment to improving student outcomes and a willingness to keep conversations open.
That is why getting—and staying—in the room still matters.
Yet, today’s climate risks pushing leaders to disengage from those with differing views. That would be a mistake.
Productive policymaking requires the courage to sit at the table with people who see the world differently. It requires listening, learning, and sometimes adjusting course. It also requires perspective.
At this stage, national, nonpartisan organizations play a critical role.
When state leaders see how peers across the country are tackling similar issues, it can reframe the conversation. It reminds us that improving student outcomes is not a red-or-blue ambition. It is a shared responsibility.
While national dialogue amplifies division, states are quietly demonstrating that bipartisan education policy is not only possible; it is already happening.
Bipartisanship requires humility. It requires patience. It requires trust built over time.
Most of all, it requires leaders who remember that the stakes are not political victories. It is the lives and outcomes of our students. And we all share the same belief that every student, regardless of ZIP code or party lines, deserves access to an education where they can succeed and thrive.
