Editor's Note.

T.S. Eliot had it all wrong, at least for most of the 53 million kids attending school in grades K--12: September is the cruelest month, mixing anxiety and boredom, stirring precious little in the way of excitement and learning.

To be sure, the overwhelming majority of American schools aren't hell holes, even if they are increasingly looking like medium-security prisons, with metal detectors adorning entrances, police officers patrolling the hallways, and rehabilitation sessions such as D.A.R.E. integrated into the academic curriculum. But our schools are not particularly fertile grounds for learning or education, especially given the vast resources pumped into them. (According to the Census Bureau, average per-pupil spending for grades K--12 topped $7,000 in 1999.)

Why schools are so lame--and how people are bypassing them--is the subject of Daniel H. Pink's cover story. (See "School's Out," page 28.) As Pink, author of the provocative recent book Free Agent Nation, points out, over the past few decades, there has been nothing short of a revolution in the way most businesses and organizations deliver goods and services. Banks, once famous for keeping limited hours, are now effectively open 24 hours a day, seven days a week; contemporary supermarkets offer a range of fresh and prepared foods that was unimaginable 30 years ago; even hospitals and doctors, renowned for neglecting patients' needs and demands, have developed customer service skills.

That seismic shift hasn't yet hit schools, especially public...