Tapping America's Potential

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Editorial and Op-ed Support October 2007

October 24, 2007 – Wall Street Journal - “The Myth of Middle-Class Job Loss”
Economic change is a messy process. New technologies open up many opportunities for those prepared to take advantage of them. At the same time, old firms and their workers are displaced and forced to start over. In 1900, for example, 40% of the U.S. work force was involved in agriculture. Today, that figure is less than 2%, and no serious observer would argue that we are worse off as a result of this transformation. Yet many of today's most prominent politicians and pundits are making an updated version of precisely this argument. They claim that the decline in the number of manufacturing jobs has led to the replacement of good middle-class jobs by low-skill, low-pay "hamburger-flipping" service jobs.

October 22, 2007 – Newsweek - “Education Around the World”
Your cover package on global education (Aug. 20/Aug. 27) pointed out critical issues in America's school system. Maintaining U.S. scientific and technological leadership is essential to the future of our country and work force; however, the United States is not keeping pace with foreign competition. Fewer American students are pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and they are performing at levels far below students in competitor nations on international standardized tests in these subjects. Meanwhile, international students educated in America are facing misguided immigration policies that hamper their ability to apply their skills and knowledge in the United States. That is why businesses and technology associations are working to double the number of science, technology, engineering and math graduates with bachelor's degrees by 2015. Investing in basic research and increasing funding for math and science education can help reverse current trends. (John J. Castellani, President, Business Roundtable)

October 10, 2007 – DISCOVER Magazine – “Making the Grade”
U.S. students may be holding their own in math and science at the elementary level, but international comparisons indicate they are falling behind most of their global peers as they progress through the system. And what they do know is often inadequate. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, sometimes called the nation’s report card, reveals that nearly one-third of eighth graders don’t possess even the most basic math skills, a fraction that rises to nearly two-fifths for high school seniors. The staggering number of teachers with STEM class assignments outside their field of expertise certainly doesn’t help: In middle schools, 51.5 percent of math teachers and 40 percent of science teachers lack a major or minor in the subject.

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