Here is some encouraging data on the education reform front, by way of our friends at Scripps-Howard News Service:

Locke High School in the Watts area of Los Angeles is one of the worst schools in California: low-performing, high dropout rate, gang-plagued. If any school cried out for drastic reforms, it's Locke.

At  the risk of gross over-generalization, U.S. public education is good for little nowadays except teaching to standardized tests and enforcing silly rules and regulations.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings -- an influential and meddlesome cabinet official about whom Americans know surprisingly little -- announced yesterday that the federal government would require states to use the same formula to calculate high school dropout rates.

How well do you think the US ranks on the world education stage? Why is this?