"We've got great schools" is a marketing slogan of district administrators, union leaders, real estate agents and assorted politicians. But do those claims mean much?

Writing in Wisconsin Interest, a publication of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, Sunny Schubert says: "saying Wisconsin schools are among the best in the nation is like winning the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest: You may be on top of the pile, but it’s a pretty ugly pile."

Sure, the state does very well compared with other states if you look at results on the ACT. But there are many other problems, including:

• Achievement gaps among white, Hispanic, and African-American students;
• A gap between results on the state assessment and on the NAEP, a national test, suggesting that state expectations are too low;
• A gap between students in the U.S. and in other countries;
• A weak system of ensuring teacher quality.

Unfortunately, the "there's no problem here" syndrome is widespread, and not just in Wisconsin.