A lovely aphorism holds that education isn’t the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire. But too often, neither are pails filled nor fires lit. One of the most bearish statistics for the future ...

"I will get teared up because I think I can't read," fourth grader Raven said. Learning to read isn't fair. It comes naturally for some students. But for others it's a frustrating, agonizing process ...