During an intense national moment with much debate about the lack of success in public K-12 education and the extent of its reforms, the Heritage Foundation last week put forward the “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.” Heritage, flanked by a group of public officials, policy experts, and leading educators, unveiled the statement at the Conservative Vision Conference in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Declaration is a statement of principles calling for the renewal and strengthening of schools. “Education is the cornerstone of individual opportunity, family flourishing, and national prosperity,” the statement reads. “Every child should have access to a high-quality, content-rich education that fosters the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that they may achieve their full, God-given potential.”

The statement acknowledges that this is a “time of moral and political crises, when too many schools have lost their way.” It continues, “It is the responsibility of America’s parents, educators, and policymakers to recommit ourselves to the central purposes........

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