So yesterday I’m listening to 20 grade school students singing nursery rhymes and all I can think of is that, given current statistics and pace of education reform, about four of those kids will not graduate from high school.

And it most likely won’t be because of anything the student does, or doesn’t do.

Pick ten people off the street and you’ll get 10 different reasons. Funding (not enough, or enough but misdirected), accountability (lack of, or too many rules), curriculum (unchallenging or uninteresting), the WASL, standards (too high or not high enough), parents (not involved, not present) or any number of other reasons.

A pair of columns in today’s PI suggests that as a country we are not serious enough about educating and preparing our youth for the global economy and that change requires doing something, implying that we as a country talk a good game but don’t take the field.

Well these parents are taking the field in central Washington and giving their kids a head start. And they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

There are many (if perhaps not, enough) parents, educators, employers, students, non-profits and others who are very serious about changing our education circumstances and are working diligently, creatively and collaboratively.

The status quo spoken of by the P-I is powerful. That’s why it's up to us - all of us - to make sure those four students (and their classmates) do graduate, and are adequately prepared for whatever path they choose.