Is educational success, key to global competition, a matter of time, money or choice?

Investors Business Daily:

The argument over what to do about America's struggling schools is still raging. Programs such as No Child Left Behind have achieved some success by introducing a measure of accountability into the process. But American students continue to get clobbered on international tests by other countries whose school systems spend less money per student and have larger average class sizes.

Facing budget realities in a down economy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently proposed shortening the school year by five days to contribute $1.1 billion in savings toward the state's $42 billion budget shortfall.

State school superintendent Jack O'Donnell vehemently disagreed, saying a longer school year was needed to prepare students for "the competitive global economy."

The operative word here is "competitive." Success in the marketplace depends on being able to produce the best product at the lowest cost. Competition in the business world produces a better product at less cost. Why shouldn't it be so in education? Well, it is.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 70% of the countries that outperformed the U.S. in combined math and science literacy among 15-year-olds had more schools competing for students. Countries ranging from Japan to Latvia all had more education options than American students.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 24, 2009 5:55 AM
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