Education linked to security, economy
Schools' failures risk U.S. future, report
says
Associated Press
Tuesday, March 20,
2012
Washington --
The nation's security and economic prosperity are at
risk if America's schools don't improve, warns a task force led by former
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Joel Klein, the former chancellor of
New York City's school system.
The report cautions that far too many schools fail to
adequately prepare students. "The dominant power of the 21st century will
depend on human capital," it said. "The failure to produce that
capital will undermine American security."
The task force said the State Department and U.S.
intelligence agencies face critical shortfalls in the number of
foreign-language speakers, and that fields such as science, defense and
aerospace are at particular risk because a shortage of skilled workers is
expected to worsen as Baby Boomers retire.
The panel said 75 percent of young adults don't
qualify to serve in the military because they are physically unfit, have
criminal records or inadequate levels of education. That's in part
because 1 in 4 students fails to graduate from high school in four years, and a
high school diploma or the equivalent is needed to join the military. But
another 30 percent of high school graduates don't do well enough in math,
science and English on an aptitude test to serve in the military, the report
said.
The task force, consisting of 30 members with
backgrounds in areas such as education and foreign affairs, was organized by
the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York research and policy organization
focused on international issues. The report was scheduled to be released today.
Too many Americans are deficient in both global
awareness and knowledge that is "essential for understanding America's
allies and its adversaries," the report concludes.
"Leaving large swaths of the population
unprepared also threatens to divide Americans and undermines the country's
cohesion, confidence, and ability to serve as a global leader," the report
said.
Rice and Klein said in interviews that they are
encouraged by efforts to improve schools such as the adoption of "common
core" standards set in reading and math in a vast majority of states and
the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" competition, in
which states compete for federal money in exchange for more meaningful teacher
evaluations.
But, they added, the pace to improve America's schools
must accelerate.
"The rest of the world is not sitting by while
we, in a rather deliberate fashion, reform the education system," Rice said.
This article appeared on page D - 2 of the
San Francisco Chronicle
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