How extraordinary it is to learn that 1.5 million people gathered in Washington for yesterday's historic Inauguration without a single arrest. This says something remarkable about the power of hope and the potential of leadership. I truly believe this. Now, having said it, the reality of what surrounded that extraordinary turnout yesterday is a U.S. capital city in which School Chancellor Michelle Rhee tells us only 12 percent of eighth-grade graduates meet baseline reading requirements while just 8 percent meet the minimum standards for mathematics. How is this possible? And why is it that we accept such an appalling circumstance?