The past week was anything but pleasant for thousands of Butler County residents. Thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ike, many areas of the county were left without power, resulting in much inconvenience and costly losses of refrigerated and frozen food.

There was much frustration in regard to having to wait days for power to be restored. That was understandable.

However, for the most part, affected county residents merit a cheer for maintaining a positive attitude.

For some property owners, the storm cleanup meant not only cutting trees and limbs that had been downed by Sunday evening's strong winds, but also expanding their efforts to other cleanup work that had been put off for whatever reason.

In many instances, people offered their help to neighbors, although they too had work that needed to be done, or damage that had to be repaired.

Members of some families unaffected by the storm provided help to other family members who had to deal with damage to trees, homes or vehicles.

The bright sunshine of the past week gave no indication of the challenges some people continued to face as one day gave way to another.

But while the bright sunshine engulfed their neighborhoods, county residents, amid their challenges, exhibited their toughness and ability to adapt in commendable ways.

The effects of Ike aren't all gone; some will be around for weeks and months to come.

However, county residents made the best of a difficult situation and for that they merit praise.

While students in elementary and middle school are performing better in the classroom, this country needs a stronger emphasis on high school students. Unfortunately, there is no such targeted focus in place to rival what is happening with elementary and middle school students under the federal No Child Left Behind education law.While No Child Left Behind remains controversial, with teachers' unions and other critics expressing strong dislike, there are positive numbers emanating from the law that cannot be ignored.An article in Monday's edition of the Butler Eagle revealed some of those positive numbers but also delved into the troubling numbers regarding high school and college students. For example, the national high school graduation rate last year was 74 percent, just 2 percentage points above what was recorded in 2000.Meanwhile, the share of college-bound students ready for a college course was 42 percent, the same as in 2000.In the same article, it was reported that U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has called for accountability for high school and college students like that called for under No Child Left Behind.Whether that is the best approach is a matter for debate.However, it's appropriate to think back to the fall of 1957, when the Soviet Union beat the United States in successfully launching a satellite. In response to that, the United States implemented a science and mathematics emphasis that produced successful results and enabled this country to pass the Soviets in scientific and technological achievements.This country is capable of fixing its problems; the key is to develop the right approach. Unfortunately, the latest numbers for high school and college students prove that the right approach remains elusive.

Pennsylvania's state lawmakers are right in moving forward legislation that would move thousands of nonviolent criminals out of state prisons more quickly.Not only would the change result in savings for the taxpayers, but other states with such provisions have shown positive results when those provisions are managed correctly.New York is one of the states that has had good results with the concept.The key provisions of legislation currently before the Pennsylvania General Assembly would allow nonviolent drug offenders currently in prison to be resentenced to enter an addiction treatment program. Meanwhile, nonviolent offenders whose prison conduct is good and who complete certain programs will be able to trim time from their sentences and be paroled more quickly.Meanwhile, what will be of interest to Butler and other counties is a provision of the legislation that would divert to the state prison sysgtem hundreds of the approximately 30,000 convicts who, under current law, serve their sentences in county jails.That would lift from the counties a financial burden that they now bear.The measure received strong Senate approval on Wednesday. The House, which previously approved versions of the bill, is expected to give final approval during the coming week.The Keystone State does not now have an early release program that gives nonviolent offenders an incentive to turn their lives around and remain crime-free. With what's on the legislative table, they could have that opportunity.