There's a good blog by Geoff Chiles worth checking out at the LCLC site about the hogwash coming out of Tallahassee, where folks will brag about our education system while overlooking a graduation rate that ranks 45th in the nation. So it was refreshing to see some straight talk from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who visited a middle school in Orlando on Wednesday with VP Joe Biden. Duncan pointed out that Florida has 233,000 ninth graders, and only 170,000 in the 12th grade.

"The honest question we have to ask is, what happened to those 63,000 young people?" Duncan said. "And we all here know they didn't leave early to go to the NBA."

According to the AP, Duncan called for raising expectations, including state standards that are so low that even those who meet them are unprepared for college; encouraging the best teachers to go where they are most needed, such as inner city and rural areas; tracking students and turning around failing schools.

"I really fundamentally believe education is the civil rights issue of our generation," Duncan said. "The dividing line in our country today is less around race and class than it is around education opportunity. And when children have a chance to go to great schools and have great teachers, it doesn't matter where they come from, what their background is. They go on to do great things."

Duncan's Dept. of Education is currently leading the way with the Race to the Top Fund, which is providing competitive grants to states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform. The Florida Department of Education has asked for creative ideas to include in its proposals for Race to the Top money. You can submit suggestions here.