The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently did a study of about 160,000 people ages 16-65 in 22 nations of the O.C.E.D., plus Russia and Cyprus. 5000 Americans were included in the study.
Americans did not do well. According to an an article in the Oct. 9 Times entitled “Stubborn Skills Gap In America;’s Work Force” by Eduardo Porter, younger cohorts in most O.E.C.D. countries are much better educated than their older cohorts That was not the case in the U.S.
Here’s a quote from the article about the results in the U.S.: “Socioeconomic status is a barrier. Not only is inequality particularly steep, little is done to redress the opportunity deficit of poorer students. Public investment in early education of disadvantaged children is meager. Teachers are not paid very well compared with other countries. And the best teachers tend to end up teaching in affluent schools.”
Here’s what we can dof. Let’s ignore the data and talk about how exceptional we are. Then let’s all chant, “We’re # 1, We’re # 1.” Maybe that will help.
The republican plan for dumbing down our country seems to be working. They continue to be re-elected, so they are happy while our youth are happy playing video games.
ReplyDelete