State of education in Texas. Very soon if not yet in Spain.

I love the letters of readers to The Economist. Readers are witty and so are editors chosing the letters. It is a hard call but this is probably the best letter ever.

SIR – Texas’s high-school exam still flunks an appalling number of students despite efforts over the years to lower standards and make passing easier. I took the test three years ago. One page showed a map of the Long March in China, with a massive arrow indicating where Mao and his men moved through the countryside. The accompanying question did not test students’ knowledge of Chinese history, but asked, “Which end of the arrow symbol marks the destination and which end of the arrow marks the beginning?”

Brian Reinhart
Houston