This morning I attended the Education Summit of Washington Learns, a governor-led state-wide initiative to raise their state's levels of educational attainment. Bill Gates was the keynote speaker, and while some of the experience I've had as a school board member in Amarillo made me disagree with some of his views, his focus was on improving their schools and their levels of educational attainment for the good of businesses and the entire community. Governor Christine Gregoire, who created this study and report development with legislation and who chairs the steering committee, gave a rousing speech explaining the report, the subsequent implementation of the recommendations, and the study's importance to the state of Washington. And, she said, "I don't want to be second to Texas in ANYTHING!" Washington state's educational attainment levels certainly are higher than ours, so right now, that's not a worry she should have along these comparison lines.