The District of the Future
NewSchools Summit 2026
Public school districts face enrollment shifts, political pressures, workforce changes, emerging technologies, and growing expectations for innovation. At the same time, districts remain essential to bringing effective ideas to more students and communities.
Empower Schools CEO and Partner Alyssa Morton created and moderated this NewSchools Summit 2026 conversation with three leaders reimagining what public school systems can make possible: Alan Cheng, Superintendent of High Schools at NYC Public Schools; Dr. LaTonya M. Goffney, Superintendent of Aldine Independent School District; and Dr. Scott Langford, Superintendent of Sumner County Public Schools.
Video highlights:
08:12: Aldine ISD’s healthcare-focused high school and Sumner County’s Innovation Center show how districts can connect students to career pathways, industry expertise, college credit, and real community challenges
14:04: The panel discusses how leaders build support for innovation when school boards, families, or community members hold more traditional ideas about what makes a good school
18:45: District leaders explain how student voice, postsecondary outcomes, career readiness, work samples, and stories of student success can provide a fuller picture of whether innovation is working
26:32: The conversation turns to AI, including the importance of preserving human skills, expanding access, supporting teachers with real-time information, and keeping implementation vision-driven rather than vendor-driven
40:10: Dr. Goffney explains how philanthropy can help districts establish proof points, test new ideas, build momentum, and eventually sustain successful approaches through district funding
46:20: Panelists share ways districts can repurpose facilities, rethink where learning happens, and use school property to address broader community needs
54:32: The leaders discuss how to develop more innovative system leaders through mentorship, collaboration, site visits, and greater openness about both failures and successes
59:44: Alan Cheng closes with a framework for providing top-down support for bottom-up innovation, studying variation, and spreading successful practices across a system
Best for: Superintendents, district cabinet members, school board members, funders, education innovators, edtech partners, and leaders working to redesign learning and expand innovation across public school systems
