State Leaders Pledge to Reform Nation's High Schools

Washington

The nation’s governors adjourned a Feb. 26-27 national summit on high schools with fresh momentum to go home and transform what Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates described at the gathering as an “obsolete” institution.

Six foundations, including the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a $42 million initiative at the meeting’s end to help states implement strategies designed to boost high school graduation and college-readiness rates.

Thirteen states, which educate more than a third of U.S. students, also announced plans on Feb. 27 to form a new coalition committed to transforming high schools by raising standards, requiring all students to take more rigorous curricula, and developing tests and accountability systems to measure students’ readiness...