It will likely take years to fix the broken public education system in this country, but there are plenty of good ideas ready to be implemented now. Three leading experts on education joined Lou to share their views. Click here to watch that discussion.

Amid the overwhelming neglect of this nation’s schools at the hands of the “leaders” in Washington who refuse to live up to that description, it’s still individual teachers and principals who shape our children’s educations. Two principals who are leading highly sucessful schools despite underfunding and weak national leadership joined Lou to talk about how they do it. Click here for that interview.

All last week, we used Lou Dobbs’s Independent Convention to talk about the issues ignored by the major party candidates—the issues that matter to ordinary Americans. To wrap things up, we focused on perhaps the greatest failure of our government—the failure to provide that great equalizer of a high-quality education to every single American child.

Half of all Latino and black students never make it through high school. And a third of all high school students never earn their degree. Of those that do, most will not go to college. In a world that increasingly demands the skills that education can offer, America is failing its students. But the presidential candidates and our so-called “leaders” in Washington don’t even seem to think that there’s a problem. Why?

Universities and alumni associations are increasingly selling out their students to credit card companies eager for new young customers. Schools are selling students’ personal information for profit. This growing alliance between financial and academic institutions is disturbing. A college degree for the average graduate already comes at a hefty price and most often with substantial debt. Now, universities are gaining financially while encouraging students to spend now and pay later using plastic. Click here for our report.

The Denver Public School District is facing a possible teachers’ strike just weeks before the start of school. Three years ago, Denver’s teachers’ contract was hailed in the district and throughout the country as a model for pay-for-performance systems. Now those same teachers are saying they don’t want to be judged on performance measures like student achievement or to receive bonuses for serving in troubled schools. They just want the old status quo of annual raises and no accountability. Click here for that story.

Our broken public education system continues to fail millions of American children every year. The pander-crazy presidential candidates rolled out their education platforms this week before the NAACP. But is it just more bluster and blather, or will one of them step up and begin to fix our schools? Are vouchers the solution or is that just walking away from the problem? And how do they propose to get schools back on track when the foreclosure crisis means declining tax revenues for local governments? Click here for a closer look.

An alarming new report finds that the United States is in danger of losing its national identity. A non-profit group surveyed 2,400 Americans and found that 63 percent believe our national identity is weakening—24 percent believe we’re so divided that a common identity is not possible. The report the blames our failure to teach and understand our own history: A recent survey of fifth-graders found that only seven in 100 could explain the significance of the date July 4, 1776. Click here for our story.

Our schools are dropout factories, and we are failing an entire generation of students. We need bold new ideas and plans to return our education system to the best in the world. Now one of the nation’s largest school districts is launching a pilot program to pay teachers and principals a bonus to work in so-called “hard to staff” schools. As part of this voluntary program, teachers are rewarded for improving student performance. Will this program ensure a quality education for the students most at risk of dropping out? We can only hope.Watch the full story