I was just reading a post on The White House blog about a recent visit by President Obama to a successful charter school in Washington, DC. He noted that Capital City Public Charter School is “an example of how all our schools should be.”

Yes. Innovation. A focus on problem solving, writing, math, and science. Expectations of excellence. I think we all want that to be the definition of our child’s school. However, so often that is not the case in public schools in America.

I was recently on a trip to my hometown where I read in our local paper that the town’s high school currently sent home letters to all parents notifying them that, currently, 50% of the students at that high school were failing. FAILING. Knowing the culture of mediocrity and acceptance of poor behavior and less (much less) than excellent academics at my own alma mater, I wasn’t surprised to learn that the school was not flourishing, but to find that number of students FAILING is, needless to say, disconcerting.

As Einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Clearly, a school at which 50% of students cannot succeed needs some serious re-thinking. According to Obama’s new education secretary, Arne Duncan, improving our schools isn’t just about education – it’s a matter of social justice.

What defines a leading school to you?