Time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that my wife Marcia and I came to Madison for the interview that determined the next phase of my career. The Saturday before that interview we visited the Farmers' Market and I knew I was home.

I have been lucky to spend 14 years working in this great district. Together, we have shared incredible changes. Our student body looks very different today than it did in 1994. We have become a highly diverse district in every sense of the word. The district now represents many cultures, races, socio-economic levels and languages. Our diversity is one of our greatest assets in preparing our children to live and work in the world.

However, successfully providing an education to a diverse population has required many changes and presented many challenges. It should be a source of pride that we have adapted to our changing district without losing sight of our mission — that every child has the knowledge and skills necessary to be a successful adult.

The years have not been easy. It is impossible to reduce our services by over $60 million and not feel the effect. I will admit that on some particularly challenging days I wonder what we could be if we still had that additional $60 million to serve our students.

However, in the face of a changing population and a continuing reduction of services, your creativity and perseverance has allowed us to keep getting better. Despite what research would predict, our district is performing better today, with a very different population, than we were 15 years ago. I have marveled at the sense of commitment that all of our staff has to our students and our community.

Each of you has had to rethink everything we know about how we do our jobs and, just as importantly, how we relate to each other and our students. Together, we have strived to confront the issues of race, culture, sexual orientation and language, honestly and openly. I hope that we have all come to believe that "if we can talk about it, we can change it."

But talking alone doesn't make change — action makes change. I leave you partially through that journey of action in both how we teach and how we relate. Complete the journey; our students and our community deserve no less.

While we have not always agreed on individual issues, the strong working relationship between the district and our unions has enabled us to work together in the best interests of the community's children. Ten years of generally harmonious relations has been one of the keys to effectively meeting the challenges of a changing population despite continuously reduced school funding.

There have been many Board of Education members elected during my tenure. As representatives of the community, each brought a unique perspective to the district's direction. They represented the community well. I am thankful to each of them for their commitment to our children and their willingness to make the many hard and thankless decisions that have made the district what it is.

In the ten years that I held the best job in the world, there was not a day that I wasn't honored and proud to be the Superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District. That pride is a gift from each of you. Thank you.

Art Rainwater — in 1994 and in 2007.