What K-12 Education System Tries to Do And Where It Misses
As America reevaluates what its public schools are truly for, new questions emerge about the purpose, performance, and priorities of K-12 education system. A system once centered around teaching the “three Rs” now juggles responsibilities as diverse as social services, values instruction, and community governance. Yet, despite these ambitions, a growing chorus of education experts warns the system may be misaligned with both modern science and society’s evolving needs. According to national data, just 30% of eighth graders were found to be proficient in reading in 2024, a foundational skill K-12 education strives to prioritize.
So, in 2025, as students face new societal challenges and schools shoulder more roles than ever before, we ask: What is the K-12 education system really trying to do, and where is it falling short?
In this episode of The Future of Education, co-hosts Michael Horn and Diane Tavenner are joined by Stacey Childress, Senior Education Advisor at McKinsey & Company. Together, they examine nine major roles K-12 public schools are expected to play today, from core academic instruction to community caretaking, and uncover where the system is overburdened, under-resourced, or simply misaligned with student needs.
The main topics of conversation…
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Learning Misalignment: Schools remain out of step with current learning science, especially in how reading and foundational skills are taught and assessed.
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Values Without Vision: The system is caught in political crossfire around character education—often defaulting to avoidance instead of establishing intentional, community-driven norms.
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Systemic Overload: From serving meals to writing policy, schools are tasked with functions far beyond education, yet rarely supported with the training or structure to fulfill them effectively.
Stacey Childress is a senior advisor at McKinsey & Company, where she supports global investors, philanthropies, and education-focused organizations. She previously served as CEO of NewSchools Venture Fund and the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund, and led transformative initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, deploying over $300 million to drive innovation in K–12 education. With prior experience as a Harvard Business School professor and board member at Kahoot!, she brings deep expertise in education entrepreneurship, investment strategy, and system-level change.
