Dumbing Down America

The United States of America is the world's only remaining superpower; the leader of the free world; an unmatched economic dynamo; the place the world's poor dream of coming to.  So how does the future look for this Utopia? In a word, grim.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a 34-member organization that supports economic progress and world trade through democracy and market economies, sponsors a student test called the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests three areas: reading, math, and science. The most recent test was conducted in 2012, when 510,000 students from 65 countries and other political entities (for example, Singapore, a city-state) participated.

The U.S. was humiliated in all three areas; the shining stars were Asian entries, and especially China. This outcome should frighten anyone interested in the future of this country; and I don't mean the distant future. Reading, math, and science represent the vital core of a 21st century education. They aren't the only important subjects, of course, but a generation that does not produce exceptionally well-trained people in those subjects, in a world driven by technology, is in deep trouble.

This is not a new problem. American test scores from the 2009 PISA were abysmal. But the 2012 scores were worse, so things are going backward. How bad was it? Well, the U.S. rank in reading was 24th, in science 28th, and in math 36th. We were lower than our old friend Vietnam in all three, even though it is one of the poorest countries in the world (per capita GDP is about $1,900; in the U.S. it is over $53,000). Not only that, but this country spends more per student than almost every other country in the world.

But we haven't reached the bottom yet. Not only were our overall scores bad, but our top achievers couldn't match the average scores of higher-achieving countries. And please, let's not get into any anti-U.S. nonsense--the OECD is not out to get us--or talk about cultural bias. People who outscored us came from Asia, Europe, and North America. Hong Kong--a city--outscored us; Poland outscored us; Slovenia outscored us; Estonia outscored us; Canada, our first cousin, outscored us.

At the end of World War II, the United States was the undisputed global power. Americans had invented a substantial amount of the twentieth century. We were famous for innovation and the creation of wealth, all of which came out of an educational system modern educators sneer at. But after throwing a breath-taking amount of money at schools, after endless theorizing and experimenting, we have nothing to show for it but a downhill slide. Our alleged experts are good for nothing but the creation of hot air.