I have a [professional] crush on Kati Haycock

It’s true, I do. She’s tough. She’s got a great presence. She doesn’t let anyone off the hook for failing schools. And last night, thanks to the League of Education Voters, I got to see her again.

Though she was pressed for time and had to breeze through some of her most compelling “wake-up call” data points on the state of U.S. public education, Kati did have a very valuable exchange with State Board of Education member Eric Liu. Eric briefly explained to Kati SBE’s challenge in updating Washington’s high school diploma and asked her if she thought they were on the right path. Kati responded that the alignment of high school graduation requirements to minimum college entry requirements was a huge step in the right direction—and one that many other states are taking—particularly for low-income and minority students.

Kati also offered the suggestions of narrowing down the number of curricula districts use throughout the state to ensure equity among schools (especially relevant as the state examines its math curricula) and really focusing on the quality of teachers in every Washington school (i.e. not just keeping the good ones—actually chasing out the bad ones).

You can develop your own professional crush on Kati Haycock, too, by viewing her powerpoint from last night’s presentation.