Wealth in money, poverty in knowledge

By Alejandro Izquierdo (Chicago, IL)

The education system in America was known to be one of the best in the world in the mid-1900s. Since then it has dropped from its high status, losing out to countries like Finland and the new No. 1: China. For the United States to be regarded as the most powerful nation on earth, one would expect its young citizens to be some of the brightest. The United States has the world’s best economy and is the world's best military power, but ranks seventeenth in math and twentieth in reading. For a strong, rich country, these scores are pitiful.

The low test scores may explain America’s lack of engineers and scientists. We have all noticed America’s loss of manufacturing jobs, which has left thousands out of work. Yet our school system supplies the economy with more factory workers than it needs, causing companies such as Google and Apple to search elsewhere for skilled workers. If this problem is to be solved, we must reform our education system.