By Gov. Roy E. Barnes

As governor of Georgia, let me say that I would — and your state should also. Being No. 1 in the South today on many indicators of quality education can mean being first in America or in the nation’s top 10.

" Impossible," you say. No, not impossible. Depending on the educational measure, ranking No. 1 in the South means being at or near the top in the United States.

If you thought this was impossible, you still may be thinking of the South in the days when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the South "the nation’s No. 1 economic problem." Then, being No. 1 in the South meant being last in America. The wealthiest Southern state was poorer than the poorest state outside the South. The total endowments of all colleges and universities in the South were less than the combined endowments of Harvard and Yale.

It can be argued that, since World War II, no other region in America has worked harder and more deliberately than the South to improve education and the lives of its residents. In 1961 the Southern Regional Education Board challenged the South’s leaders to "cast away forever the traditional double standard" that led the South, because of its poverty, to set lower expectations for itself.

The South, SREB said, must be "measured against the same criteria of excellence that are applied everywhere." Many in the South, including some governors, argued that this standard was unreasonable and too idealistic. Today we Southern governors, to a person, take this "unreasonable" principle for granted as we set goals for education.

" Sixty years after being the nation’s No. 1 economic problem, the South is a place of remarkable progress and momentum," SREB asserted in a 1998 re-evaluation of Roosevelt’s statement. The Economist even called the South of the 1990s "a locomotive powering the American economy."

It’s time to take a different look at what it means to meet "Southern" standards. My challenge as governor is to help my state compete globally, not just in the South. When being No. 1 in the South can mean being first in America, I have a good measure of being competitive.

What does it mean near the beginning of the 21st century to be No. 1 in the South?

• No. 1 in the South in the percentage of children in state-funded prekindergarten programs means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the mathematics achievement gains of eighth-graders, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the mathematics achievement of fourth-grade African-American students, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the amount of research and development funding to a university from the federal government means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the number of National Board-certified teachers means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the number of students taking college classes on the Internet means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the writing achievement of eighth-grade African-American students, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the percentage of high school students taking Advanced Placement exams to earn college credit means being first in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the reading achievement gains of fourth-graders, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, means being second in America.



• No. 1 in the South in enrolling university freshmen Merit Scholars means being second in America.



• No. 1 in the South in U.S. News & World Report’s listing of top public national universities means being second in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the number of charter schools means being third in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the percentage of college-educated adults means being third in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the amount of a university endowment means being third in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the percentage of public high schools with Advanced Placement courses means being third in America.



• No. 1 in the South in a university’s earning income from the licensing of patents means being third in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the number of volumes in a university library means being fifth in America.



• No. 1 in the South in the average reading achievement of eighth-graders, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, means being seventh in America.

Even with this impressive list of firsts and top 10s, the South faces stubborn, long-term problems. Progress is uneven across the South and among segments of society. The problems of the Mississippi River delta, the so-called "Black-Belt South," rural Appalachia and the urban centers often account for "bottom 10" rankings that require much more work.

Nonetheless, at the beginning of the 20th century, no one would have suggested that being No. 1 in the South in education meant being a leader in the United States. At the beginning of the 21st century, being No. 1 in the South does mean being a national leader in education.

This dramatic change in what it means to be No. 1 in the South validates decades of deliberate efforts to improve education and challenges today’s leaders. Momentum in the last half of the 20th century carried Southern states toward the middle — and sometimes to the front — of the pack. Our education momentum is now at risk in an economic recession, but in those areas in which our states are leading or challenging for the lead, we have a new responsibility. We have the responsibility to lead and to stay the course.