It isn’t conceivable nor is it possible for America to continue to claim that it is the greatest country in the world when we find that its educational system is so inept, that the United States does not come close to leading in any of the major categories such as Reading, Math, or Science against other OECD countries. Indeed, when it comes to Reading scores, the National Assessment of Educational Progress as reported by nytimes.com tells us that “The percentage of eighth graders who have “below basic” reading skills according to NAEP was the largest it has been in the exam’s three-decade history — 33 percent.” So too, when it comes to Math, we find that as reported by thebalancemoney.com the “U.S. scored 465 in math, below the OECD average of 472.” Finally, when it comes to Science, thebalancemoney.com reports that “The United States scored 499 in science, above the OECD average of 485 but still well below the top five highest scorers in science.” In summary, the United States does not lead any of its respective OECD countries in its aggregate educational achievements and is also considerably behind those nations that have the best test scores, which clearly indicates that on average, American students, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on educating them, do not achieve test scores commensurate with the monies so spent, which is indicative that there is either something fundamentally wrong with America’s educational system, or the students just aren’t all that bright, or both.
Look, it has to be said, if America really believes that it is the #1 nation in the world, it should therefore have the best and brightest students in the world, as well; and if not, then it isn’t the #1 nation in the world, because the people that populate it aren’t much better than average, at best, which is quite frankly, pathetic, since the United States is supposedly the destination of choice for those that are motivated to accomplish great and meaningful things. This thus means that America is at the stage in which, it is resting on its laurels and its previous achievements, of which, clearly having reached its zenith, America is now in a state of serious decline.
To believe, somehow, that education doesn’t really matter, as long as the few and the proud, are able to achieve great things -- gets it fundamentally wrong, because the more dead weight placed upon the shoulders of high achievers, the more difficult it will be to thus steer this nation into the direction that it ought to really go and continue on. America is at that crossroads, of which, first it needs to recognize that it has systemic problems that need to be meaningfully addressed, and secondly, it needs to have the integrity of character to do something constructive about it.
As it has been said, winners never make excuses but losers always have one. The bottom line is for the United States to admit that they have failed their citizenry and that future generations are thereby subject to living in a nation that won’t be the epitome of greatness, but rather will live in the past, with the sure recognition that the future holds little overall promise because the aggregate population won’t have the necessary education to ever amount to anything of substance, unless this nation determines that not only that it will do better but that it will do better by doing what it needs to do, to get it done.