I feel, some days, as though I am trying to swim upstream when all about me are going in the other direction.  I am hailing those going by me, saying, "Hey! Stop!"  But they don't.  They look at me and scratch their heads and go on.

When I look at the growing number of countries with education systems more successful than ours, I see countries--and states within those countries—with effective governance systems—strong ministries of education that have the support of their people, attract competent staff and do their job well.  They are not merely maintaining a well-functioning system but have long been responsible for redesigning it to meet needs very different from those that used to drive the design of their system.