38 percent

The following quote was in our local paper today. It refers to high school students.

"Only 38 percent of Jefferson County students are proficient in both math and science, test scores show.

Among 29 industrialized countries, the United States scored below 20 others in math, according to a recent report by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development."

Things like that scare me and what frightens me even more is the apathy and apparent willingness of our society to accept such dismal results. My tax dollars and your tax dollars should get more for our money. Our children deserve more. If our society is going to compete in the future and thrive we HAVE to do better than that.

Our country has always excelled at innovation. However, innovation in our schools is hindered by the lack of competition and inability to apply innovative thinking to the established bureaucracy of education. When will it change? Will it change with more money or more testing or more hours in the classroom?

No, it won't.

At what point will our country begin to notice an inability to compete in the global marketplace due to poor education? Perhaps it has already begun. Perhaps that is what it is going to take to shake up our society and force people to challenge the status quo.

What about you? How do figures like this affect you? Are you apathetic? Are you confused as to how you could make changes to the system? What responsibility do each of us have as citizens and tax payers in regards to information like this?