The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), a nationwide non-profit organization of the 56 public officials who head departments of public education in every state, the District of Columbia, and five extra-state jurisdictions, has adopted the following principles: (1) each person must have an equal opportunity to earn a high school diploma at public expense; (2) each person, except for those who are severely disabled, has the capacity to earn a high school diploma; (3) teaching methods must reflect the fact that different people learn in different ways; and (4) the CCSSO must provide education programs to ensure that this nation enters the twenty-first century with virtually all students graduating from high school. To meet this goal, the following steps must be taken: (1) the states together must express a will to succeed; (2) the states and the local governments must increase resources for education; (3) the practice of teaching must be strengthened; (4) schools must be improved; (5) parents and communities must be engaged with schools in partnerships; (6) education and related support systems must work in tandem; and (7) the conditions that put students at risk--ill health, poor housing, inadequate nutrition, and unsafe streets--must be corrected. (BJV)