Sarah Palin talked a lot about education, but let’s look at her own state for some clarification:

• Alaska’s dropout rate, at 8 percent, was double the national average in the 2005-2006 school year, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Education.
• 38 percent of today’s ninth-graders will have no high school diploma 10 years from now, according to the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education.
• Alaska ranks 50th, or last, in the number of ninth-graders who will likely have a bachelor’s degree in 10 years, according to the commission.

And amongst that 8 percent of dropouts is Palin’s own son. These numbers will be interesting to keep an eye on when Palin tries again in 2012. Perhaps she should talk to that “terrorist” Bill Ayers about how to fix her state’s education problem.