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Last month, I attended the Tiger Bay Club luncheon on Emerging Trends in K–12 Education. The conversation was both energizing and sobering. While the panelists shared varying perspectives, I was reminded that the balance between educational freedom and civic responsibility can coexist, and that the balance between the two requires intentionality and a shared commitment to our students’ futures. The discussion left me inspired, but it also reinforced something I’ve witnessed over many years at the Education Foundation: we do better when we work together to channel our support of student success. If we align our focus, everyone wins. Especially the students.

Disruption is not new to education, but the pace and scale of change today feel different. Disruption can be an extraordinary catalyst for learning and growth. Our own Sarasota County Schools have demonstrated remarkable adaptability in responding to evolving expectations, shifting policies, and student needs. Their willingness to pivot, innovate, and lead with students at the center deserves wholehearted applause.

This moment reminds me of another industry that faced profound disruption: the automotive sector. For decades, automakers resisted stringent emission standards. But eventually, they realized that fragmented rules, which can have different requirements in every state, country, and market, created inefficiency and uncertainty. Instead of resisting, they began to collaborate. Major manufacturers formed alliances, unified around shared safety and emission standards, and even co-invested in infrastructure like the Joint Venture EV Charging Network. Competitors remained competitors—but they understood that some challenges were too big, too interconnected, to tackle alone.

There is a powerful lesson here for education.

Just as automakers discovered strength in alignment, our education ecosystem benefits when we rally around shared competencies, guardrails, and systems that ensure every student can move confidently from classroom to career. Imagine what it could look like if K–12 schools, higher education, nonprofits, and employers aligned on core learning expectations, credentialing, and data systems; structures that help students navigate opportunities seamlessly. Their success in the workforce will be reflected in our local economy, which has farther reaching impacts for a healthy statewide, national, and global economy.

This is where alliances become not just helpful, but essential. Through PLANit Sarasota and our broad network of partners, we work every day to stitch together support for students that no single institution can offer alone. Nonprofits, schools, workforce leaders, volunteers, philanthropists—we are all part of the same ecosystem, working toward the same outcomes.

And in a growing school-choice environment, collaboration matters even more. While “competition” is often the word we reach for, I believe we have an opportunity to model something healthier. Choice does not have to divide us. It can motivate us to speak with a unified voice—one that promotes accountability, consistency, respect for differences, and a shared commitment to quality across all learning environments.

If each sector advocates only for itself, policymakers are left to sort through noise rather than clarity. But when we come together—public schools, charters, private schools, community organizations, businesses—we can shape thoughtful, coherent policy rooted in student success, not institutional silos.

At the Education Foundation, our goals have always been to connect, convene, and catalyze. We are strongest when we bring diverse perspectives to the same table. The automotive industry created an “Alliance for Innovation” when the stakes grew too high to go it alone. Education deserves its own version—an Alliance for Learning Innovation that honors excellence and promotes success

Disruption has opened the door. Collaboration will help us walk through it. And our shared commitment to students will determine how far we go.

Jennifer Vigne is the President and CEO of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County and powers PLANit Sarasota.

Provided photo.