I agree with John, Larry. That is an interesting speech. As an educator, let me give you my take: I do hear people at the federal level talk about the need for better education, but the funding mechanism for schools makes it very difficult to provide adequate funds to do the the main things that Larry's article recommends to improve our children's education - pay teachers more and lower classroom size.

In the recent elections in Ohio, most school levys failed. Because medicare and other federally mandated programs that the states must pay for are running out of control costwise, the governor in Ohio, like his counterpart in California, is cutting back on funding schools at the state level in order to balance the books. The end result is, as the rhetoric to do something to improve schools rises, the outlays for schools get lower and lower.

What do we do about that? Any suggestions?