What’s Been Achieved

I first heard of Mike Cohen before I met him. Mike was part of an effective duo at the Department of Education — he and Mike Smith were a team that inspired talented young people throughout the field. Stefanie Sanford introduced him to me, and he became a mentor and a guide into the world of education policy. While Mike had a background in federal policy, he built Achieve to show the power of states acting together. Today, Mike announces that Achieve will shut its doors after 24 years — let’s all work to make sure the legacy of inspired state collaboration burns strong.

Mike led Achieve amid an inspired time for cross-state leadership in education. With Gene Wilhoit at the Council of Chief State School Officers and Governor Jim Hunt at his institute, Dave Spence at the Southern Regional Education Board and Mike Casserly at the Council of the Great City Schools — a cadre of inspired and inspiring leaders led across state lines. I could mention so many more in that bright company — Governor Bob Wise at the Alliance for Excellent Education among others — that made for principled collaboration.

Achieve believed that education must never be isolated but fully embraced by the business and political worlds. Achieve at its strongest actively engaged CEO’s, governors, and superintendents in the work of education. Mike moved between all of these worlds to build Achieve as an essential force.

I write to praise Mike and Achieve and also to sound a note of caution. It has never been more important to invest in the most vital of educational institutions that cross state lines. We all need the evidence and imagination provided by Patricia Levesque and her team at ExcelinED; Checker Finn, Mike Petrilli, and their team at Fordham remain indispensable. The Education Commission of the States continues to do vital work bringing policymakers together under Jeremy Anderson’s leadership.

So many of us in this field owe a debt to Achieve, Mike Cohen, and the circle of leaders they have cultivated. So many of us became friends at gatherings that crossed state lines in a shared commitment. Let us now be vigilant to strengthen the bonds across sectors and states. Let’s work for ideas and ideals better than partisanship. Let’s especially hold fast to the best of Achieve’s ideas: that students will rise if challenged meaningfully. Let us rise to the challenges of our divided landscape to find insights and actions that may unite us still.