A sustained focus on year 12 retention rates and school performance is needed to lift Tasmanian living standards. Although Tasmanian’s outcomes have improved over the last 10 years, Tasmania has significantly lagged the mainland for decades on living standards, life expectancy, long-term unemployment, and disadvantaged children. A fundamental cause is that Tasmanian productivity is significantly behind the mainland in most industries. Productivity could be substantially higher if Tasmania lifted year twelve retention rates and school performance to mainland levels, along with curriculum reform.