AFTERWORD A Look Back, A Look Forward For almost two decades, states in the SREB region have been engaged in a quest to improve schools. Regrettably the “silver bullet” to cure all education’s ills, perceived or real, has eluded most school reformers. There is no one best strategy.      Schooling is a complex, multifaceted enterprise. The 3,000 school systems in the SREB region do not lend themselves to centralized authority or highly regulated procedures.      A new school improvement strategy is now emerging. States and the federal government are shifting educational funding and reform strategies to the local school districts. The trend is to decentralize, deregulate and downsize state agencies while empowering local communities to plan their own school improvement. Most SREB states are searching for ways to balance state prescriptions and local autonomy. Educators and local communities face the challenges of guaranteeing equity to all children, meeting state achievement standards and including parents and the business community in its decision-making process.      These challenges will require a new kind of leadership at both the state and local levels. Leaders will need to share authority and work in teams.      From whence will these new leaders come? Are they already in place, just waiting for the chance to prove themselves? Or will states need to prepare teachers, principals, school board members, superintendents and central office staff to assume new, more complex roles?      SREB believes that leadership training is an essential element in the continuing effort to improve schools. But we also believe that state policy makers and legislators have assigned a low priority to preparing school leaders. Many states have not exhibited much enthusiasm for supporting leadership development; they have been looking for a quick fix to cure the problems of public schools. Developing school leaders calls for sustained support from legislatures and state policy makers.      Have you ever known of a superior school system or an exemplary local school that didn’t have strong leadership?      If leadership skills can be taught and learned, let us be about this important task. Alton C. Crews, Director SREB Leadership Academy Next—Strategy I: Content areas and modules of Leadership Academy training