Many employers in the Pittsburgh region, particularly manufacturers, complain that they have trouble finding qualified workers to fill the available job openings.

It's no wonder -- state test scores show that more than one of four 11th-graders in our region (28.6 percent) can't read adequately, and that two of five (41.4 percent) can't do math properly. And there's been little sign of improvement -- the percentage who are proficient in math and reading has barely changed in the past three years.

If you think your public school district doesn't have a problem, think again. None of the 125 school districts in the 10-county region had 90 percent or more of their 11th-graders proficient in math, and only three districts had 90 percent of their 11th-graders proficient in reading. In more than 100 school districts, 30 percent or more of the 11th-graders were not proficient in either reading or math. In 39 districts, more than half weren't proficient.

In other words, if you graded school district performance the same way schools grade pupils, no districts would get an A, and most would get a C, D or F. (If you'd like to see your school district's grade, go to www.pittsburghfuture.com.)

It's not just high school students who are failing. The problem starts much earlier. One-fourth of the fifth-graders in the region aren't proficient in math, and more than one-third (37 percent) aren't proficient in reading. And we have a genuine educational crisis with African-American students -- more than half (52 percent) of black fifth-graders aren't proficient in math and more than two-thirds (68 percent) aren't proficient in reading.

What business could survive if 30 percent or more of its products failed to meet minimum standards? How can the Pittsburgh region survive if 30 percent or more of its children aren't proficient in basic skills? The answer: It can't. Our public schools need to do better -- a lot better -- if our region is going to attract and retain businesses and jobs in the future.

Many people seem to believe that 70 percent proficiency is the best schools can do without more money. But on average, pupils in the higher-spending schools in the region do worse, not better. In the 33 lowest-spending districts (each spending less than $9,000 per child in 2005-06, the most recent data available), an average of 41 percent of the 11th-graders were not proficient in math, and 26 percent were not proficient in reading. Although that's unacceptably low, the 32 highest-spending districts (which each spent $11,000 or more per child) did worse -- on average, 48 percent of their 11th-graders weren't proficient in math, and 34 percent weren't proficient in reading. In fact, four of the 10 best-performing districts in the region spent below-average amounts per child.

Educators often justify low proficiency scores in schools that are educating a lot of poor children or children with disabilities. But our schools aren't doing well even with the pupils who aren't disabled and aren't economically disadvantaged -- 35 percent of those children aren't proficient in math, and 22 percent aren't proficient in reading. And again, it's not a matter of money. Some school districts perform significantly better than others at a lower cost, even with similar numbers of poor and disabled children.

What needs to be done?

1. Demand that every school establish a goal of 100 percent proficiency for its students and a plan for achieving it. (Try this: Go to the Web site for your school district and see if you can find either a goal for student proficiency or a report on what's being done to improve it.)

2. Elect school board members committed to achieving 100 percent proficiency. (Attend a school board meeting and see how much time they spend talking about improving student proficiency.)

3. Improve the quality of early education. Learning starts before school begins, and children with quality preschool experiences at home and in child care will do better when they start school.