My top priority as U.S. secretary of education is to make sure our K-12 students are prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. If we can do this, we'll be able to meet President Barack Obama's ambitious but reachable goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

Working with states to preserve jobs and reform schools using resources from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the U.S. Department of Education is focus...