If our schools could educate our students to a level of accomplishment achieved by other countries, the returns on our education investment would be vast.

Americans are aware of public education's many failures—the elevated high-school dropout rates, the need for remedial work among entering college students. One metric in particular stands out: Only 32% of U.S.

We are now 30 years beyond the landmark government report "A Nation At Risk," which warned the country that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future."

I have heard more people talk about leaving California this year than at any other time in the past three decades, and I know quite a few who have already left, several for the second biggest popul...