Melinda Gates unimpressed with US public school system

According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, only 25 percent of public high school students in the U.S. graduate ready for college. While the Common Core State Standards are designed to address this problem, the Foundation is also doing its part.

For example, the Foundation is working to ensure that teachers in states that have adopted the CCSS understand them and know how to implement them effectively, according to the organization's website. Such steps are especially critical at this time, and Melinda Gates, the Foundation's co-chair, believes there is major room for improvement among the nation's public schools.

Gates recently told The Associated Press that she gives the U.S. public school system a C+. She selected this grade based on students' level of college readiness and how they compare to pupils in other countries.

Fortunately, Gates is optimistic, and believes that progress is being made in certain school districts around the country.

"I see pockets of improvements," Gates told the news source. "The neat thing about the pockets of improvements is they're getting larger all the time and they're across the nation."