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Let us start with a confession: As card-carrying members of the school-choice and testing-and-accountability wings of the education reform movement, we have at times been dismissive, even hostile, to local school board members. That鈥檚 because these elected officials, constrained as they may be by laws, regulations, and the leanings of those they employ, have often seemed willing to protect the status quo and resist changes intended to overhaul the jalopy we call American public schooling.

But we鈥檙e ready to look afresh, mindful that it鈥檚 unfair to view anything in the sprawling K-12 sector as a monolith. Plenty of school boards may still be allergic to change, but that doesn鈥檛 mean all of them are. We鈥檝e also come to see that, viewed in a certain light, school boards are mainstays of civil society鈥攁 subset of what political theorist Edmund Burke long ago called 鈥渟ociety鈥檚 little platoons"鈥攚hich the United States needs to strengthen in order to rebuild communities that have been stressed by globalization, the hollowing out of the middle class, and drug- and alcohol-linked deaths rooted in despair.

Most importantly, we鈥檝e come to see that the individuals best positioned to push back against so much of the nonsense that courses through our schools and our society鈥攈istory emphasizing the nation鈥檚 shortcomings, antipathy toward strict discipline, and on and on, much of it stemming from the political left鈥攁re school board members, especially those with a conservative orientation.

No, they can鈥檛 make change singlehandedly; even a unanimous school board vote doesn鈥檛 guarantee that any given policy or program will be implemented faithfully. We also understand that conservative board members are outnumbered in many places, especially blue and purple parts of the country. Yet if we don鈥檛 want to cede public schooling to the 鈥減rogressive鈥� left, as we have seen in many universities, it鈥檚 urgent that conservatives make their views and voices heard.

So we come to you now, school board members, not with hat in hand but with a three-part agenda to recommend.

First, let our schools refocus on preparing children for informed citizenship. Let鈥檚 rekindle young Americans鈥� understanding of history and civics, including the kinds that even while acknowledging past failings and present challenges. (Saying no to the New York Times鈥檚 dubious , which casts America as a fundamentally racist nation, would be an excellent start.) Not just civic activism, not just protest, not just the odd community-service project, but the totality of informed citizenship for a democratic republic that values its pluribus but also needs a lot of unum.

Second, , virtue, and morality to the head of the education table where they belong. No human attribute matters more than good character, and nothing is more important for schools to do than to foster such character. A core attribute of sound character is self-discipline鈥攁nd a core problem facing educators is indiscipline in their classrooms. How to address this has emerged as a key distinction between contemporary liberals and conservatives. The former tend to focus on whether disciplinary actions taken by schools are discriminatory鈥攖hat is, they concentrate on the interests of those so-called perpetrators鈥攚hile the latter tend to focus on the interests of well-behaved learners whose education is being disrupted. Schools need to rebalance these concerns.

Finally, let us build an education system that confers dignity, respect, and opportunity upon every youngster, including those who don鈥檛 go to college as well as those capable of zipping through it. Committed as we are to a solid, shared core in everyone鈥檚 curriculum, we mustn鈥檛 suppose that everyone is headed to the same destination or moving at the same speed. By the midpoint of high school it鈥檚 important to open multiple pathways into adulthood鈥攁nd to make clear that they have equal merit. America has overemphasized college-for-all at the expense of high-quality career education and other honorable alternatives, thereby robbing many people of the dignity, respect, and neededness that make for a healthy society. Character, responsibility, and self-discipline reappear here, too. A key goal of school should be to inform teenagers about the 鈥渟uccess sequence鈥� and encourage them to follow it: Finish school, get a full-time job, get married, and start a family鈥攊n that order.

Together, these three elements constitute a solid鈥攊f potentially provocative鈥攁genda for school board members with a conservative tilt. Make sure your district鈥檚 approach to American history is both critical and patriotic. Don鈥檛 be afraid to embrace forms of character education that instill good old-fashioned notions of right and wrong. Ensure that your elementary and middle schools offer opportunities for acceleration and deeper challenge for your strongest students, but also make sure that your high schools don鈥檛 send the message that a four-year college degree is the only path to dignity and a family-sustaining wage.

We don鈥檛 expect all who view themselves as conservative to agree with all those recommendations. And those who do must expect to lose many debates. Leftist, Howard Zinn鈥搒tyle curricula will often continue to prevail over proper respect for America鈥檚 history in all its wondrous complexity. Social-emotional learning and 鈥渁ction civics鈥� will often swamp purposeful efforts at character education and civic education. College-for-all and hostility to gifted and talented education will often win out over plural pathways and timely acceleration.

But defeat is not inevitable. Many times, school boards will find a way forward that takes the best ideas from left and right, not just from the left. That鈥檚 essentially what happened during the previous era of school reform, back when compromise was a way of getting important things done and bipartisanship wasn鈥檛 a curse word.

That鈥檚 how to act as Americans. And that鈥檚 how to educate Americans.