A Special Note From Our Publisher

Making change in government is hard, but it can happen. As a top education official, Carey Wright pulled off what became known as the “Mississippi Miracle,” dramatically lifting up the Magnolia State’s traditionally bottom-dwelling test scores. In fact, on her watch, Mississippi’s math and literacy scores improved faster than anywhere else in the country.

Now Wright is trying to accomplish the same thing in Maryland. Despite the state’s wealth and a major new influx of cash flowing into its schools, test scores have been trending the wrong way. That’s true in a lot of the country, as schools and students seek to recover from damage done by the pandemic. Natalie Delgadillo tells the story of Wright’s efforts.

Even when reforms are successfully implemented, it’s not always possible to replicate the results in other jurisdictions. But often it can be done. Most places face pretty similar problems, whether it’s homelessness or crime or workforce shortages. Ideas that succeed in Houston may translate well in Honolulu or Hoboken. The trick is for government officials, swamped with their own local problems, to find out what other places are doing that’s worth imitating, or at least thinking about.

That’s our role here at Governing. Our editors and reporters are constantly scouring the nation for solutions to the most pressing concerns in states, cities and counties. In this issue, for example, you can read about how California is using AI to prevent wildfires from spreading, which is now a challenge not only in dry Western states but all over the country.

It’s been tremendously gratifying for me in recent weeks, since we relaunched our print edition, to hear from mayors, legislators and other officials about how much they appreciate our work. At a time when coverage of state and local governments is already much diminished, too much of it gets devoted to politics and polarization. At Governing, we view our mission as helping governments succeed.

That’s not always an easy task. Every day brings new challenges, even as agencies and officials deal with perennial topics that never go away. But there are great people working in government who are coming up with solutions that maybe you and your staff will want to adopt. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about these kinds of breakthroughs in this issue — and every day online at governing.com.

Editor's Note: This article appears in Governing's Summer 2024 magazine. You can subscribe here.