Students walk in shaped by their parents' ideas and school is a place where those ideas converge. Given the right circumstances, schools can be a great experience for students.

Many would agree that schools need to change, but the present situation is forcing schools to change for the worse, not the better. Public schools are in the midst of a perfect storm.

During a time when one big initiative would be a lot for schools, many are the middle of three. Those three are adopting the Common Core State Standards, teacher and administrator evaluation and budget cuts. All three together could have devastating effects on the public school system and we seem to be surrounded by people who really don't care.