First, I'd find the good things and highlight them. That is much easier than folks would have you believe. You simply can't attract good teachers, admin and support staff into a career that just gets bashed. And you can't get students believe it's worthwhile either.
Then, I'd work on an educational focus and reduce the focus on staff protections like seniority and tenure. They all need to be accountable and productive all year, every year.
Educational focus needs to be relevant, including trades and vocations. Gifted students should be challenged, instead of being reigned in with the rest. The old "kill and drill" techniques worked, bring them back.
School choice is a tough one. It's important, but the vast majority of alternative/charter/home school simply don't perform well except in people's perspectives. They must also be held accountable educationally.
How we measure performance can also change. Get rid of the woke metrics that give everyone participation medals and reward higher levels of success, considering the potential of the individual students.
