Our Accountability to You.

Every semester, I try to impress the importance of accuracy on my undergraduate journalism students at University of Maryland, where I teach an editing course two nights a week. Those who don't take my admonitions seriously face a harsh, unappealable penalty.

When I wear my hat as editor of this magazine, I have the chance to practice what I've preached. We must be accountable to you, the readers of this magazine who look to us each month as a credible and reliable source of information and views on public schools and their administration.

Despite the small size of our full-time magazine staff (two editors, one editorial assistant), we have an ongoing duty to live up to that standard, and that means ensuring the accuracy of everything we print--names, titles, phone numbers, Web site addresses and anything else of a factual nature. Admittedly, we sometimes fall short of that goal, and when that occurs we accept the responsibility for setting the record straight.

In this month's issue, for instance, you will find at the end of the letters page that we have corrected a few mistakes published in recent issues. You also will find a supplementary list of families with two practicing superintendents-folks we overlooked in our supposedly complete compilation in March of husband-wife, brother-brother and father-son pairs.

Fortunately, such errors are rare in our pages (though they seem to appear in bunches). We learn from our mistakes and pledge not to repeat them. At the same time, I urge you to keep us on our toes. Let us know when we've done something well and always tell us when we've goofed.

In the meantime, enjoy our coverage that follows of how the approaches of quality management in the corporate sector are being applied to the public schools.

Jay P. Goldman

Voice: 703-875-0745

E-mail: [e-mail]