Some elected and education leaders are stuck on the "achievement gap" between minorities and white students; with a 25 percent failure rate revealed in the competency tests, maybe they should be concerned about the "international gap." As Tom Friedman has pointed out, we should be concerned about the "ambition gap" where Americans have gotten lazy and have a sense of entitlement; the "numbers gap" in that we are not producing enough engineers and scientists; and the "educational gap."

The USOE has shown its inability to change; and legislators, except for a few, seem unwilling to use their political capital to do anything but business as usual. The "Tough Choices or Tough Times" report offers voters innovative ideas for restructuring our schools for the new economy. It provides a beginning blueprint for action for voters and their legislators to start renewing our education system so our children are able to close the "international gap."

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Utah native John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations, served on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch and on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards. He also has been deputy assistant secretary of labor. E-mail: jdflorez@comcast.net