One of every four children in America's public schools isn't going to graduate high school. And in many large cities, the graduation rate is twice as bad: Two of every four kids will fail to graduate. Staying in school doesn't guarantee a good education, either. Fewer than a third of 12th-graders can identify why the Puritans sailed to these shores. Only four in 10 know the significance of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

These and other eye-popping facts make for compelling reading in "A Parent's Guide to Education Reform", a new, 35-page booklet from The Heritage Foundation. Taxpayers, it makes clear, aren't getting much of a return on the roughly $9,300 a year they spend on each child in public schools. Click here to see a downloadable copy of the booklet: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/upload/EducationReform-web.pdf.

America's public schools earn an F in teaching science and only a D+ in math. Reason: 46 percent and 39 percent of high school seniors, respectively, scored "below basic" on the relevant National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, tests.

Parents, educators, researchers, journalists -- anyone interested in the ongoing crisis in American education -- will find useful data for what ails our schools in the booklet. Copies may be obtained via the web link above or by calling (202) 675-1761.

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