Since 2009, nearly every U.S. state has adopted specific standards and teaching frameworks for literacy and math. Yet, despite these efforts, the implementation of these standards in classrooms has often fallen short. As I reflect on my six decades in education policy-including 12 years as president of the California State Board of Education-I've come to believe that one of the most persistent challenges in American education is the gap between state-level policy and effective classroom practice. In a recent report > I authored for the Learning Policy Institute, I examined the long, winding, and often perilous journey of state curriculum standards and found that even well-designed policies frequently fail to translate into meaningful classroom implementation. Teachers and principals emerged as critical links in the chain between the state capitol and the classroom. Yet, I found that state strategies for teacher and principal improvement are often superficial, fragmented, underfunded, and overly reliant on external vendors who are not embedded in district operations. That research led me to a deeper question: Why do most state policies for teacher development end when a teacher is certified and inducted into the profession? This approach is no longer sufficient given the challenges facing teachers today. To ensure that all students benefit from high-quality instruction aligned with state standards, we must rethink the role of the state in supporting educators throughout their careers. This means building a coherent, long-term system of professional learning that spans the entire teaching lifecycle-from early career to veteran educators. It also means aligning profession development initiatives with state curriculum frameworks, leveraging research on what works, and creating the infrastructure to support continuous improvements at scale.