As far as Lampkin goes in stating the problem, I agree. (Although I'm a little wary of his statistical predictions for GDP growth if America improves its standards of education.) The real question is: What can we do about it? "National leadership" could mean a lot of things. A former aide to President Bush, Lampkin (thankfully?) doesn't elaborate.
I'm all for lengthening the school year and/or making the school day longer. After all, nowadays kids don't have to reap the harvest in summer; and most parents are gone until 6 or 7 p.m. each day anyway, leaving their kids with too much time to spend on the wrong activities. (I'm a radical, I know, but I also think school-funded after-school sports programs should be eliminated. Replacing after-school sports with 30-40 minutes of in-school exercise per day for all kids, no exceptions, would do wonders for students' health and academic performance.)
We shouldn't forget, however, that the per capita productivity of American workers continues to increase. The problem is that lower-skilled jobs are going to countries like India and China that can do them more cheaply. The great danger is that we'll lose even those high-productivity jobs as India and China increase the productivity of their labor force relative to ours, thanks to their superior educational systems.
Rapidly Losing Our Edge
Lagging behind in education is hindering our economic competitiveness.
By Marc Lampkin
September 14, 2007 | NationalReview.com
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