NSBA programs like the Magna Awards give us and the board members we represent the opportunity to illustrate how school boards face challenges by creating innovative solutions, writes NSBA CEO and President Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs. NSBA has done the same, she says, by embracing our challenges as opportunities to change, grow, and reflect on our mission.
March 14, 2025
For three decades, NSBA and American School Board Journal have highlighted the innovative work of school boards and their districts through the Magna Awards. We are all aware of how much public education and the role of school board members have changed since 1995. Then, we were just beginning to understand how school board governance impacted student achievement. School board members, who had been told for years to “stay in their lane,” were starting to realize the importance of their roles as school leaders and the power of good governance.
NSBA founded the Magna Awards all those years ago in recognition that school board members were underappreciated, and their hard work often went unrecognized. That, unfortunately, remains true today. Board members are the last to get credit for district success, and they are the first to be blamed when something goes wrong.
The Magna Awards, and the other NSBA awards established since then, give us and the board members we represent the opportunity to establish our own narrative. We will not let others define school board members. We stand against those who would weaponize the work of sincere and committed people who serve on their school boards, many as unpaid volunteers.
This year’s Magna Award winners illustrate and strengthen our narrative with stories of school board members who put into place creative solutions to district challenges. They provide first-rate comprehensive services for students with autism and their families. They help their students in a historically disadvantaged community attend college. Recognizing that the mental health needs of their students were going unmet, they put together programs to serve those students. They expand their school nutrition program to help hungry students, their families, and other community members. They ensure that their newcomer high school students thrive academically and socially while also supporting newcomer parents and families.
Just as our school board members face challenges with innovative solutions, so has NSBA. These challenges have provided us with opportunities to change, grow, and reflect on our mission. Our new mission and vision focus on the future. Our mission: To equip school board members with resources to advocate for each student in each community, in partnership with our members. Our vision: Each school board ensures that each student can reach their full potential through quality and equitable educational opportunities. Our tagline—Transforming public education, board by board—underpins everything we do.
We are expanding our services and our reach. Whether you’re from a city, a rural area, or anywhere in between, NSBA welcomes ALL school districts to participate in our programs and events.
Our new NSBA Alumni Network encourages retired school board members to serve as ambassadors of NSBA's mission, mentor new school board members, lead education sessions and webinars, and more.
NSBA is committed to helping school boards lead by example—ensuring that education remains a space where students are taught not just academics but also the skills necessary to participate in a democratic society.
We are committed to providing school board members with the training and resources necessary to foster environments where educators and students can thrive. One of those training opportunities is upon us. Our annual conference, from April 4 to 6 in Atlanta, has more than 70 different sessions for education leaders focused on staff development and student achievement; student mental health and social media; cell phone policies; school climate; funding challenges; family, school, and community partnerships, and more.
We stand with our state school boards association members and school board members, doing the right work for every child in every community. If you haven’t already, please join us.
Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs (ceo@nsba.org) is NSBA’s executive director and CEO and the publisher of American School Board Journal.