- MENU
- HOME
- SEARCH
- WORLD
- MAIN
- AFRICA
- ASIA
- BALKANS
- EUROPE
- LATIN AMERICA
- MIDDLE EAST
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Benelux
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Russia
- South Africa
- Spain
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- USA
- BUSINESS
- WEALTH
- STOCKS
- TECH
- HEALTH
- LIFESTYLE
- ENTERTAINMENT
- SPORTS
- RSS
- iHaveNet.com
Robert B. Reich
Over the long term, the only way we're going to raise wages, grow the economy and improve American competitiveness is by investing in our people -- especially their educations.
Yet we're falling behind. In a recent survey of 34 advanced nations by the
I'm not one of those who believe the only way to fix what's wrong with American education is to throw more money at it. We also need to do it much better. Teacher performance has to be squarely on the table. We should experiment with vouchers whose worth is inversely related to family income. Universities have to tame their budgets for student amenities that have nothing to do with education.
But considering the increases in our population of young people and their educational needs, and the challenges posed by the new global economy, more resources are surely needed.
President Obama calls this a "Sputnik moment," referring to the wakeup call to America by the Soviet's successful launch in the 1950s. That resulted in the National Defense Education Act, which trained a whole generation of math and science teachers.
Sadly, we're heading in the opposite direction. The tax bill signed by the president in the closing hours of the last
Less visible are cuts the states are already making in their school budgets. That's no surprise. Education is one of the biggest expenses in state budgets. But states can't run deficits, and tax revenues during the prolonged downturn haven't kept up. And
State cuts in public education have been under the national radar, but viewed as a whole they seriously threaten the nation's future.
Already, 33 states have sliced education budgets for next year, on top of cuts last year. For example,
Meanwhile, at least 43 states are cutting back on funding for public colleges and universities, and increasing tuitions and fees. This means many qualified young people won't be able to attend. For example, the
Why have we allowed this to happen? Our young people -- their capacities to think, understand, investigate and innovate -- are America's future. In the name of fiscal prudence we're endangering that future.
Maybe the answer is that America's biggest corporations don't especially care. They're getting the talent they need all over the world. Many of the them now have research and development operations in
America's wealthy and upper-middle-class families don't seem particularly worried, either. They have enough money to send their kids to good private schools, and to pay high tuitions at private universities.
I'm not suggesting that the stealth attack on American education is intentional. It's happening because public budgets are tight. But when big corporations and the wealthy demand tax cuts, and don't particularly care about public education, the inevitable result is that most of America's kids are vulnerable.
(Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is professor of public policy at the
Available at Amazon.com:
Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt
American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People
Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.How the Working Poor Became Big Business
Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?: How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life
The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy
The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics
Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
Courage Grows Strong at the Wound
The Irony of Manifest Destiny: The Tragedy of America's Foreign Policy
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
The Stealth Attack on American Education