In case you missed it, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently announced his intentions to jumpstart the reauthorization process for federal education policy in 2010.

Duncan’s call to action suggests a breakneck pace of policy debates this fall. But as you well know, we can’t craft the best possible guidance for our public school system until we rethink learning NOW.

Everyone knows that helping children learn how to use their minds well is the ultimate goal of public education. Indeed, there are already scores of schools across the country that are doing this work, and doing it well. However, our overall system of schools won’t be better equipped to help all children learn unless we're all clear about what a powerful learning environment actually looks like.

Before that can happen, we need to start having a different conversation. We need to restore the focus of public education reform to its rightful place – on learning, and on the core conditions that best support it.

To bring about this subtle shift of thinking, a growing coalition of organizations (including the Forum) is sparking a national conversation about schooling – and how best to improve it so that all children can finally receive a high-quality public education in America.

Aside from releasing three provocative, conversation-starting PSAs (watch them here), the campaign’s first step is to invite people to recount powerful learning experiences and identify the attributes that made those experiences so successful.

Already, the campaign has received major media coverage (from CNN to USA Today), collected a diverse set of stories – from citizens to Senators to the Secretary of Education himself – and begun outlining a core set of essential conditions for schools to cultivate.

Throughout the fall, the campaign will also host three Capitol Hill briefings, at which we will present new policy ideas, based on the collective insights of the country, that will help lawmakers institute reforms based more clearly on what young people need in order to thrive – and stay – in school.

In that sense, the Rethink Learning Now campaign has two main objectives: first, establish clarity around the core objectives of effective school reform: powerful learning, highly-effective teaching, and a system committed to ensuring fairness; and second, take that coordinated energy and apply it toward specific proposals that result in a better, more attuned ESEA that empowers educators to create healthy, high-functioning learning environments.

It’s a powerful idea – and it won’t work without your direct involvement. So join the chorus, and share your voice, at rethinklearningnow.com.