OPINION: Southern Schools: Worst to First for 2 Reasons . . . ACADEMIC ACCOUNTABILITY and DISCIPLINE

Public education’s hottest topic is what’s known as the “Southern Surge.”  The term describes the best-in-the-nation academic progress being made for the past 5-10 years by schools in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and other southern states.    Historically, most schools in those states have been bottom-dwellers or close to it...