I am very proud of the quality of public education in Nebraska

Hear then the words of Dave Heineman, once governor of Nebraska, spoken with reverence and resolve: “I am very proud of the quality of public education in Nebraska, but I believe we have an obligation to continually assess whether our system is meeting 21st Century education needs.” Though rooted in the soil of his state, these words reach beyond borders and generations, for they touch upon the eternal duty of all societies—to prepare their children not only for the present, but for the world yet to come.

To be proud of one’s system of education is no small thing. For education is the seedbed of civilization, the furnace in which minds are tempered and souls awakened. Without it, nations falter; with it, nations rise. Pride in what has been built is right and good, for it honors the labors of teachers, parents, and communities who have poured themselves into the shaping of young lives. But pride must never harden into complacency, for yesterday’s victories cannot guard against tomorrow’s storms.

Thus Heineman speaks of obligation—a word heavy with duty, not comfort. For education is not a gift given once and forgotten; it is a trust that must be renewed by each generation. The obligation is not merely to maintain, but to assess, to test, to question whether the way that has brought us here can carry us further still. Like a farmer who walks his fields, checking the health of the soil, the wise leader knows that vigilance is the companion of prosperity.

Consider the story of Japan after the Second World War. Once devastated by war and ruin, it rose from the ashes not by resting on the past, but by reforming its schools, investing in science, technology, and discipline. The people understood that their children would live in a different world than their ancestors, and so their education had to be reshaped. By continually assessing and adjusting, they transformed themselves into one of the leading nations of the modern age. Here lies proof that pride in tradition must be married to vigilance for the future.

The mention of the 21st Century reminds us that the world of today is unlike the world of yesterday. The tools of learning have changed—books remain, but now screens glow, and knowledge flies swifter than wind through invisible wires. A child in Nebraska or any land must be equipped not only to read and reckon, but to navigate a world of constant change, of global ties, of challenges never faced before. If education does not meet the needs of this new age, then even the proudest system will falter.

The lesson, O listener, is clear: honor the past, but never stop examining the present. Be grateful for what has been achieved, but do not cling so tightly to tradition that you blind yourself to the demands of the future. Whether in education, in leadership, or in your own life, carry both pride and humility—pride in what has been done, humility to ask, is it still enough?

Therefore, let your practice be this: in your home, in your work, in your learning, pause often to assess. Ask if the ways you walk today will carry you into the world that is coming. Seek always to adapt, to grow, to refine. For the spirit that thrives in the 21st Century is not the one that clings to yesterday, but the one that honors yesterday while shaping tomorrow.

And so, remember Heineman’s words: be proud of what has been built, but never cease the labor of renewal. For the true strength of education, and of all human endeavor, lies not only in its past glory, but in its constant rebirth for the needs of the future.