"That's part of what drove me to run as mayor of Salt Lake City; to focus on filling up the gap the Legislature has left us in making a difference in Salt Lake City," Becker told a crowd of educators, community leaders and education policy experts gathered Thursday night at Salt Lake City's Horizonte Instruction and Training Center.

So began "Engaging the Community in Public Education," the first of what the mayor hopes will be many productive summits on how to best meet issues facing the city's public schools. Leading the event was keynote speaker Marilyn Cochrane-Smith, professor of education visiting from Boston College, followed by a series of calls to action and miniature manifestoes by a panel of some of the state's most esteemed leaders in education and experts in public school policy.

All were hopeful of an imminent sea change more in favor of public education with the arrival of a new presidential administration. And all were brimming with ideas, plus more than a few warnings, regarding public education.

Cochrane-Smith outlined three topics she said required new thinking so public education might improve. First is the necessity of expanding what it means to educate beyond test scores and out into areas of broader academic learning, social and emotional development, critical thinking, and democratic skills and values. Focussing on tests alone produces great test-takers, but not necessarily citizens equipped with needed skills and character. Public education's neglect of students' emotional development has been revealed in incidents of school violence, she said, and learning for tests means students miss out on developing skills that will help them "solve problems we don't yet know."

Cochrane-Smith also warned against approaches to education that see teachers both as "saviors and culprits." That kind of thinking limits the search for other solutions that might improve education. "We can all agree that teachers are important, but they're not the only factor," she said.

Other speakers drove home the importance of early child education, noting that while 38 states offer universally accessible early childhood education, Utah is not among them. "I was a Head Start teacher for three years," said Paula Smith, executive director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring at the University of Utah's College of Education. "If kids are not socially and emotionally ready to learn, it may not matter how great the teacher is."

Toward summit's end an American Indian woman working two jobs and attending school told the panel of how she never received notice that her son, who attends a Salt Lake City high school, was flunking all but two of his classes. This prompted a discussion about the need to educate teachers in the best way to communicate with families of diverse cultures.

Andrea Rorrer, director of the Utah Education Policy Center, said it was time people stop treating public education as an exercise in blame and instead start asking what needs to happen in order to see that everyone receives the best education possible. True public education means no one is left out, she said.

"Who are we willing to sacrifice? If you can't answer 'No one,' then tell me who you're willing to sacrifice," Rorrer said.

Becker said the number of summit attendees demonstrated how many in Salt Lake City take interest in public education issues. "That alone is very satisfying. It's great to talk about issues, and sometimes the key is taking a lot of this and passing it [into law]," he said. "At the same time, laws come and go all the time. I'm personally interested in finding the activities and programs that will make a difference."