http://www.thenation.com/blog/165843/scratching-surface-obamas-education-rhet... I think Dana Goldstein summed up Obama's education portions of the State of the Union pretty well here: "long on platitudes and short on honest talk." As for the idea of making it illegal to drop out of school before you turn 18, she definitely gets it: "...one can’t really address the drop-out crisis without making school much more engaging for low-income teenagers, whether or not they show an inclination toward making it to and through a four-year college. This means dealing head-on with curriculum, not just tinkering with how teachers are hired and fired, and by whom."