Former IBM CEO Louis Gerstner says it’s time for our political leaders to acknowledge that after thousands of reports and billions of dollars spent, our K-12 public schools system is failing and only four things can turn it around:

1. Set high academic standards for all of our kids, supported by a rigorous curriculum.
2. Greatly improve the quality of teaching in our classrooms, supported by substantially higher compensation for our best teachers.
3. Measure student and teacher performance on a systematic basis, supported by tests and assessments.
4. Increase "time on task" for all students; this means more time in school each day, and a longer school year.

Gerstner says there is wide support for many of these measures, but its the bureaucracy that’s thwarting progress. Therefore, he recommends: abolishing all school districts, save 70 – 50 states and 20 of the largest cities; establish a set of national standards for a core curriculum; set national days of testing and publish the results; establish national standards for teacher certification and require regular re-evaluations of teacher skills; and effectively add 20 more school days to the year. Gerstner writes:

H.G. Wells remarked that ‘history is a race between education and catastrophe.’ For the first time in America's history, we may be losing that race. We can win, but we have to act quickly and decisively.