So, inherent in any good reform system is one that sets high standards. Secondly, it's so important to trust the local folks, is to set power out of Washington so as not to provide convenient excuses for failure. We must align authority and responsibility at the local level. There's nothing worse than having a school system where centralized authority says you must do it this way and when there's failure, somebody says, oh, we would have succeeded except somebody told me to do it the way we didn't want to do it. There's a lot of fear about accountability in the education system.
People view it as a way to punish.
That's not our vision. We view it as a way to correct. So it's so important that Congress gets the message that in return for federal help, states and local jurisdictions must develop accountability systems that measure third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade. It's important that we desegregate those results, so that we treat each child as an individual. But when we find failure, instead of accepting the status quo, do something about it.