Why the Federal Government Should be Involved in School Accountability

Americans are frequently surprised to hear that United States schools are not the best.
Indeed, the typical American believes that U.S. students both attend very high-quality
schools and receive the most education. The available evidence, however, suggests that
both perceptions are wrong: Many other countries now provide more schooling while
their students outscore U.S. students by a wide margin. Given that, what should and
can be done? And, importantly,i s there a central role for the federalg overnment