EDUCATION

"For the most part the current system is a mix of broken, counterproductive and anachronistic policies in need of an overhaul," says the report, which summarizes each state’s laws and regulations affecting teachers.

Unless there is a dramatic shift, more than 12 million students will drop out nationwide over the next decade, resulting in a $3 trillion blow to our nation’s economy.

Every thriving culture has its exceptional citizens, and in the world of education, where it takes exceptional skills simply to survive, these folks stand out.

“The rise of a completely new class of public schools—‘virtual’ schools using the Internet to create online classrooms…is bringing about reforms that have long eluded traditional public schools.”

"I think that what this comes down to is ensuring that all students are successful in high school," said Tom Luna, state superintendent of Public Instruction. "And when we talk about being successful in high school, we mean that when a child enters high school, they don’t need to be remediated."

Today’s economy requires that high school graduates possess skills and knowledge dramatically different than a generation ago. Responding to this changing landscape, and in order to provide students with multiple pathways to academic and career success, the NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) today released a new Issue Brief titled Retooling Career Technical Education that provides states with strategies to reorient career technical programs towards high-wage/high-skill industries.

"We were picked the best out of all 35 countries competing,"