Very interesting article in last month's Atlantic Monthly
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200801/miller-education arguing that schools should be nationalized (there shouldn't be local/state authorities causing such variation in education). I serve on a school board (charter school) and like our autonomy, but I absolutely understand the idea of centralizing (everyone should take the same, stupid annual test each year, not varying from state to state). Think of all the wasted resources in developing each test, grading them, analyzing data, etc. And that's just one aspect of schools.
