In this article, the author discusses the issue of high school reform in American high schools. According to him, there are a number of reasons, but chief among them is that a consensus haven't been reached on what high schools are supposed to do. He states that America can claim it has some of the best high schools in the world, and it does. But there are others that aren't so great, and some that few people would want to be around. Some high schools are incredibly boring places where kids are allowed to put in their seat time in exchange for a diploma. But others are vibrant and exciting places. He presents some questions regarding the issue. The first question is whether all high schools need to be reformed. And the second, related question is, does everyone need another federal intervention to make things better? According to the author, perhaps an intelligent redesign is needed to identify the real problems and solve them.