India is known for its top-notch engineering colleges, but the country is also plagued with thousands of mediocre schools at all levels that turn out students who are unqualified for further study or all but the most menial jobs.
And they both seem to take credit for the same things: preserving Social Security, lowering the price of prescription drugs, helping ranchers, saving children from mediocre schools.
The question of who is accountable for California's mediocre schools has a surprisingly simple answer: everybody, which is to say nobody.
Do we want mediocre schools or the best education for our children?
The prime minister's announcement today that, if elected, the Tories will force "mediocre" schools to convert to academies was important for a couple of reasons.
China still has many mediocre schools that need fixing.
Currently too many mediocre schools price themselves as if they are already world class.
They include mediocre schools, stratospheric pension liabilities, budget deficits, crumbling infrastructure and flagging economic development.
These are the mediocre schools without strong leaders and without vibrant missions.
Homes located in decent school districts are often dramatically more expensive than those near mediocre schools.
