John Gulla is an educator who currently serves as Executive Director of the Edward E. Ford Foundation, an organization that provides grants for innovative work done in independent schools. Like Mr. Gulla, I am a public school graduate with friends and family who may very well wonder how I got into this line of work. Generally, independent schools are frequently misunderstood on many fronts. In this essay that appeared in the magazine "Independent School", Mr. Gulla makes compelling points about the importance of independent schools in the life of our country.