America’s K-12 education system and institutions were designed in a different era for a different society, and we are at grave risk today from this obsolete system, which fails to prepare all children to succeed as adults. In fact, the system we have now was never designed or intended to reach all children.

Look into a classroom and it looks pretty much the same way it looked in the 19th century.

The results have been catastrophic.  According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, two-thirds of all students fail to meet grade-level proficiency in any subject. Not math. Not civics. Not reading, history or geography.  The numbers are far worse for minority students, of whom only one in six are meeting grade-level proficiency.

It’s obviously long past time we did something about it, but why is it so hard to change things and what changes would actually work to prepare every single student for a career they can be passionate about?

For answers, I turned to Center for Education Reform President Jeanne Allen and my wife, Sarah, who served as CEO of Language Odyssey, an education venture we created together to provide Spanish and French language programs at schools around the country.

Join us as we explore ideas such as rewarding competency over numbers, inspiring young people’s academic passions online and in the school curriculum, and doing our best to make sure the best possible teacher is in every classroom.