Rajah E. Smart, Ed.D. Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Spatial Equity and Education; Director, Tennessee Educational Funding and Policy It is my privilege to announce the publication of Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Journal of Spatial Equity and Education (JSEE), the inaugural issue of a journal built on a single conviction: place is not the backdrop against which policy happens. Place is a variable. It carries information, it distributes costs and benefits unevenly, and it echoes long