oelene and I have two children--a son and a daughter. Both obtained all their education through the baccalaureate degree in Adventist schools.

I haven't tried to figure how much we shelled out over the years, but it must be a tidy amount. Some Septembers we had to scrape to put together the funds needed for registration. For a while we didn't have a piano in the home, although Noelene trained in piano performance. We sold the baby grand to help keep the kids in school.

We never thought of all this as a big deal, a sacrifice, or whatever. For us it was simply a matter of priorities: we valued what Adventist schools could offer our children. No doubt they could have received as good or better academic preparation in public institutions, but we wanted them to be exposed to the Christian option, and in particular the Adventist Christian option.

That's still the chief reason why I believe in Adventist education. I take very seriously this word from Ellen White: "Call no man brilliant who has not the wisdom to choose the Lord Jesus Christ--the light and life of the world. The excellence of a man is determined by his possession of the virtues of Christ" (Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 175).

Our schools aren't perfect, but they have something that the most prestigious secular institution cannot offer: teachers who love Jesus and who seek to share Him with their students.

And there's a second reason why I believe in Adventist education: I was part of it for 20 years. So was Noelene, for a shorter time. Noelene taught at the elementary level. I taught high school (along with working as dean of boys), then college, finally at the seminary.

We know firsthand the sort of people who give their lives for Adventist education, in the classroom and in administration. We know them, and with very few exceptions, we are proud of them.

We trusted our kids to them, and they served us well. We are grateful for them.

So this special issue, coordinated by assistant editor Bonita Joyner Shields, is deliberately upbeat. With all the challenges our schools face today, I still believe in them.

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William G. Johnsson is the editor of the Adventist Review.