Judy Johnson received her Doctorate in education from UCLA. A veteran educator, Johnson is currently Associate Director of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership. She may be contacted via email at jjohnson@lalc.k12.ca.us.

The following is the complete text of Dr. Judy Johnson's speech honoring teachers, schools and community members at the 1999 Los Angeles Educational Partnership Excellence in Education Awards. By JUDY JOHNSON, Ed.D Associate Director Los Angeles Educational Partnership Good evening, The Excellence in Education Awards grew out of LAEP's belief that there is excellence to be found in public schools in Los Angeles. Through our work with teachers, schools and communities we have witnessed extraordinary efforts to help children learn and, in many cases, we have seen real progress towards improving student achievement. The problem is - few people know about it. So tonight, we are going to have a "show and tell" that we hope will help to communicate what excellence in the classroom, at the school site, and in the community means. Our aims are first, to honor those who everyday do the very hard work of teaching the children of Los Angeles and second, to make others more aware of the quality of their efforts. In the process we hope to share some great examples with other educators, and to build community support for excellence in public education. Tonight's awards focus on teachers, schools and communities. Those are not just categories chosen at random. Rather, they reflect the focus of the work of the Los Angeles Educational Partnership, our strong belief in the importance of each and our certainty of the need for teachers, schools and communities to work together in a comprehensive effort to achieve excellence in education for all children. If Los Angeles is to succeed in its quest for great schools, we will need high quality instruction in all classrooms provided by caring, knowledgeable, well prepared and strongly supported teachers. Our Schools must focus all of their energy and efforts on strengthening student learning and achievement. And parents and community members must be engaged in efforts to assist students and overcome barriers to learning that may exist. Our hope is that tonight's awards will help to create understanding about the importance of excellence in public education. Excellence, is not a luxury for the city of Los Angeles or an offering to be made only to a few lucky students. Instead, excellence should be viewed as this city's most important priority -- essential to the personal well-being of all children and crucial to the civic and economic growth of our community. Our world is changing, and access to quality education is vital to the development of the knowledge and skills our students will need to succeed. As the recent RAND report, Breaking the Social Contract makes clear, the skills and knowledge needed by adults entering the workforce in the next century are very different from what was expected of high school graduates in the past. The bar has been raised. To keep up economically, tomorrow's workers must have some education beyond high school. Training in specific skills after grade 12, or college or university education has become essential to compete in the job market. Access to Excellence in education is absolutely essential if our students are to be prepared for the challenge. Those who are unprepared - those who drop out or just complete high school - are likely to see their real hourly wages decline over their working years. Without excellence, we in Los Angeles are likely to see an even greater divide between rich and poor. We have far too many divisions in our community now and cannot tolerate greater separation. Widespread access to advanced education for all is critical to the economic and social welfare of this community. Educational quality from preschool through high school graduation is the main reason why students will succeed or not. Economic conditions and parental support are certainly important, but excellence in teaching is the turnkey to helping children succeed in the next century. And it is important to note, good teachers alone cannot create excellent education for all children. They need their colleagues to join in to provide a sequence of learning that is tied together and formidable. Our schools and our communities must focus on and support educational excellence. So tonight, I hope that you will look at our award recipients as more than just contest winners. I hope you will look at them as models of a quality of excellence in education that we should honor and respect, who's examples we should nurture and grow as part of an ongoing effort to achieve excellence in education for all children in Los Angeles. Thank You.