The consensus is clear: America's school bureaucracy rots the quality of public education. Here's how we can move forward and reform the system.

Reuters

Bureaucracy is crushing America's schools. That's the inescapable conclusion of virtually every essay from America the Fixable's April education series -- by experts from the right and left, by union leader Randi Weingarten and charter school innovator David Feinberg. Mere reform won't work. The existing legal structure needs to be dismantled. Polling shows that's what the American people want as well.

Inspired by the bold views of the essays from the series, and also by readers' comments, I've come up with a proposed presidential platform for overhauling America's public schools. It calls for a radical change in approach, replacing bureaucracy with individual responsibility and accountability.

REFORM PLATFORM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

America's children hold the key to our future. To compete in global markets, and to lead our society, they need to be knowledgeable, innovative, and true to basic values of honesty, hard work, and community. America's public schools must represent a commitment to provide quality education and to inculcate these values in America's youth.