There is great excitement and interest generated by this year’s presidential election. Regardless of which candidate you favor, the choice is important. The reason that presidential elections and other elections captivate our collective attention is that leadership matters.

When our voices are heard through our votes, we know that the choice is important because dynamic, visionary and thoughtful leaders can take our towns, cities, states and country to new heights.

The importance of leadership in turning around low-performing schools was the topic covered by the Legislative Task Force on Underperforming Schools and Districts at their meeting held last week at the State Capitol. Established by Senate Bill 2405 in the 2008 regular Legislative Session to study and report on the status of underperforming schools and school districts, the Task Force was also established to examine the enhancement of accountability and sanctions imposed on those schools and school districts.

The members of the Task Force reviewed research on the topic and heard from leaders of associations representing teachers, superintendents and school boards. All of them pointed to one conclusion: Leadership Matters.

The report, “Review of Research: How Leadership Influences Student Learning,” found that good leaders are key to good schools because the leaders set directions, develop teachers and other school personnel and ensure that the organization works as it should. Commissioned by the Wallace Foundation and conducted by the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto, the study also found that leadership matters the most where it is needed the most, in underperforming schools. In fact, they found that there are virtually no low performing schools that have been turned around without a strong leader at the helm.

One is the most important tasks that school leaders have is ensuring a quality teacher in every classroom, as Mississippi Association of Educators President Kevin Gilbert shared with the Task Force. He pointed out that the successful recruitment and retention of teachers is essential for turning around low-performing schools and that quality school leadership is essential to finding and keeping good teachers.

The Iowa School Boards Association examined the relationship between superintendents and school boards in both low-performing and high-performing school districts. Dubbed “The Lighthouse Inquiry,” the study found that the superintendents and boards in high-performing districts established district goals based on student needs and school goals were expected to be in line with that. The study also found that board members in high-performing districts understood the goal-setting process and staff members understood the connection between those goals and action at the district and building levels.

Both Dr. Mike Waldrop, executive director of the Mississippi School Boards Association, and Dr. Sam Bounds, executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents, stressed the joint role that superintendents and board members play in the success of schools and how important it is that both groups receive training on their roles, both their own and each other’s roles. They both also stressed that the success of a school district rests equally on the shoulders of both board members and superintendents.

A large measure of the success of any organization or venture rests on the shoulders of its leaders. The difference with schools is that so much rests on the success or failure of the schools. All of the hundreds of children that matriculate through a school are counting on the leadership to provide them with the tools they need to succeed in life.

Failure is simply not an option.

Hank Bounds is the superintendent for Mississippi Public Schools.