Would you trade your brand-new car for an Edsel? Or your iPhone for an antiquated mainframe computer the size of your living room?

Most people wouldn’t dream of making such a choice — at least not unless forced to do so. But many American children face a similar situation each day when they head to school. For while some children in our nation’s schools do receive a quality education, many do not. Archaic obstacles — a tenure system first developed early in the last century, and an education bureaucracy in Washington created as part of the Great Society five decades ago — often stand in the way of progress.