We are so mismanaging our national finances that we now borrow nearly $2 billion a day from foreigners, mostly Asians. Last week Standard & Poor's predicted that unless we change course, our debt will be downgraded to junk bonds within 25 years. Our politicians go into emergency sessions to save poor Terri Schiavo (a questionable exercise of power at best), but they cannot bestir themselves to save Medicare and Social Security. Our research universities remain the best in the world, but our share of patents is declining while Asian universities are rapidly on the rise. Despite the noble efforts of our soldiers, sailors, and pilots, and a brightening outlook for democracy overseas, the way we have conducted ourselves has so offended others that America's reputation abroad has plummeted.
The author, Gergen, works very hard at being non partisan. That's what makes what he has to say in this article even more profound.
School for scandal. All these trends are dangerous enough, but there is another that's even more alarming: the way we are educating our young men and women. Back in 1983, a national education commission famously concluded that our schools faced a "rising tide of mediocrity." Educators, governors, and CEO s quickly swung into action, and we have been trying to improve K-12 classes ever since. The most promising reforms have revolved around standards and accountability, culminating in "No Child Left Behind" under President Bush. Despite a quarter century of effort, however, we're still making uneven progress, and other nations are moving ahead of us.
Its even worse than the way he presents it. The fastest growing 'crime' among high school and college kids is plagiarism. There are web sites where you can go to get papers on any subject as well as the answers to SAT and other tests. When asked, kids think its cool.........they think they are learning by uploading the paper or test answers from the site.
ted |
