Demanding More of Our High Schools

By Mark R. Warner

The nation’s governors have consistently taken the lead on school reform and opening the doors of educational opportunity to more of our children. From promoting early-childhood education to establishing teacher-accountability measures, the states understand that the status quo is unacceptable in a knowledge-based economy.

In our zeal to reform, however, one critical segment of public education has largely been overlooked. Despite the tremendous changes and advancements in technology and the economy in the last decade, let alone the last 100 years, the American high school has not undergone a thorough re-examination—or for that matter, overhaul—in more than a century. Given that the economic prospects of states, and this nation, are at stake, blindly conducting “secondary education” as usual is unacceptable. As this increasingly global economy demands more from our students, we should demand more from our high schools.

That is why, as the new chairman of the National Governors Association, I am launching “Redesigning the American High School,” a yearlong initiative to improve our nation’s high schools for the sake of our young people and our nation’s continued economic prosperity. I have recruited three of this country’s most forward-thinking education governors—Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Gov. John Baldacci of Maine, and Gov. Bob Taft of Ohio—to work alongside me. With the help of teachers, administrators, business leaders, policymakers, parents, and students, this bipartisan task force will make the entire high school experience more rigorous and relevant to college and the workforce by developing and highlighting the necessary tools governors need to implement real, tangible statewide reform. In addition, the work we do over the next year will allow governors to identify and act on state policies to help states create a system...