Governors agree on how to judge graduation rates

Thirty of the nation’s governors who’re meeting in Des Moines have agreed to use the same criteria to judge high school graduation rates in each of their states. Fifteen other governors who are not in Des Moines, as well as a dozen national groups, have agreed to abide by the new criteria. The move had been one of the goals of Virginia Governor Mark Warner, the current chairman of the National Governors Association.Warner says: “How we get to our goal of that well-educated workforce, we should differ, but we at least ought to be using similar data” to judge each state’s progress. On Saturday, two speakers briefed the governors on the education systems in China and India. Iowa’s Governor, Tom Vilsack, says it’s all about the new reality. “Our competition is global,” Vilsack says. “China and India and other developing countries (are) emerging and in a position to do a lot that we used to be able to do by ourselves.” The governors will conclude their meeting this afternoon, after one final discussion about redesigning American high schools.”The only way that America’s going to be able to compete in that global economy is by being more innovative and more creative than the competition,” Vilsack says. “It’s going to be necessary for children in this country to be better educated.” This morning, the governors will meet in private with the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary.