Report: U.S. Schools Not Making The Grade
High-Powered Panel Warns That American Kids Can't Compete With Global Peers
-
Play CBS Video
Video
All Children Left Behind
American public schools are falling behind their international counterparts. Thalia Assuras reports on the revolutionary recommendations presented by a Blue Ribbon Commission on education.
-
Photo
Neha Sharma, center, says she thinks public education in America is worse than in India, her homeland. (CBS)
-
Interactive
Education In America
Backpack ready? Learn more about education in America through fun facts, national statistics and unusual schools.
-
Interactive
The Nation We Live In
Who are Americans and what do they do? A comprehensive look at our economic, sociological and racial breakdown.
"I am really worried about where this country is," says ex-Sen. Bill Brock, a former Secretary of Labor. "We've got an information world, we're networked to the rest of the world, it's a global economy and we're not preparing our young people for that world."
Students from Asia to Europe outperform Americans on tests. Thirty years ago, the U.S. boasted 30 percent of the world's college students. That figure is now 14 percent. Meanwhile, most other industrialized nations educate their 16-year olds at a college level.
Neha Sharma is 16. The daughter of a diplomat from India, she's in an advanced college-level program in Virginia, rare in U.S. public high schools.
"I hate to say this, but the education system over here is worse than it is in India," Sharma says.
Emerging giants like India are churning out college graduates who often have more advanced skill sets than American graduates. Many go on to take U.S. jobs.
"That is going to drive the standard of living down in the United States," says Commissioner Mark Tucker.
The commission calls for a radical overhaul to stream all students to college.
Public schools would no longer be run by local districts. Instead, schools could be managed by groups of teachers or private companies. Teachers would need to pass rigorous assessments ... and be paid a lot more. All 4-year-olds and all low-income 3-year-olds would enroll in universal pre-K. Finally, high school students should be prepared to pass college-level board exams by age 16, like Neha Sharma and her classmates.
Do students think they are ready for what's going to be the new globalized world? "Absolutely not, no!," Sharma and her classmates say, laughing.
It's not the answer any parent or teacher in this country wants to hear.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Video and Galleries from CBS Evening News
- Latest in CBS Evening News
- MJ Tributes, From Pop Icons To Global Fans
- Serial Killer Shatters S.C. Town's Psyche
- National Mall Showing Its Age



- 1
- 2
- next
See all 52 CommentsI hope that you would continue this story even more in depth. I'll give you an example of what goes on in my area. I live in Port Charlotte, Florida. Land of Hurricaine Charlie, so you can see where I'm at. I went to my school board to find out if there was any voucher program for my son to go to school some where else beside the public school. One of the school board member over education department told me that all the middle school in this area were getting A grading. But, I asked her if that was the case how come so many of the other students parent in my community didnt believe this to be the case. From my son middle school alone had to have to FCAT session because they were so many students who could pass it. And the local news paper, the "Sun" did an article in the past showing where our district had a high drop out rate for the community. I believe that the teacher only care about the grade from the state than how the student is doing. I would be great if you could look at our area and get questions for concerned parents. These are some reasons why our students will continue to fail. What can parents like me do about it? Thank you if you get to read this.
We waste $500 BILLION each year on WAR. Providing the Haliburtons the Carlyle group and the other "defense" industry war corporations with massive profits...
The Exxons make over $100 BILLION in PROFITs each year, gouging the American people (as we give them subsidies)...
Tax cuts for the super wealthy cost more Hundreds of Billions.
NOW DO YOU GET IT !
Our nation is ruled by the corporations, the wealthy and the well-connected. Is it any wonder our schools are strugling??
George W. said it was no child left behind! Maybe he meant just privately schooled children - you know "his type" of folk...
How many reports of underachieving American students are we going to have before we FIX THE FREAKING PROBLEM? Tsk-tsk
When a nation repeatedly 'elect'/allow a certified idiot as its leader, we are sending the CLEAR SIGNAL that education doesn't really matter in American!
Also, a nation of ignorant/uneducated/undereducated idiots is expected to elect one of its own from the 'majority' as its leader.
That's the devilish and destructive democracy at work for you: If *** is in the majority, then there is no hope of advancement for the nation, because *** will be leading the way. LOL
Good education is far more than just the grey standards of NCLB. It includes love, appreciation, motivation, art, music, wood shop, metals shop, electronics, science, history, home economics, mathematics, literature, language, church, family, community, and respect for students, all in balance. We will be fine if we focus on the whole fabric of our communities, schools, and economy.
We are being drained by the war mongers and the illegals who no habla and therefore can't teach their own kids to read or write in English.
Our govt need to change it's out of control spending habits, balance the budget, fix the trade imbalance, stop this world trade baloney.
There's so many facets to the problem.
WOO, I'm getting steamed!
Take a look at school administrators, and school board members paychecks -- what do they actually do to earn those big-bucks and would the money be better spent in the classroom?
Take a look at the unfunded mandates forced on public schools by the government - then get rid of them.
Untie the hands of teachers and let them regain control of the chaotic classrooms.
Remove the bureaucratic rules and regulations that stifle creative teaching. Encourage innovation in the classroom.
Protect schools from frivolous litigation by deranged parents as well as students.
As for higher education -- it is imperative that government do SOMETHING about the astronmical costs to the student as well as the parents.
School used to be "free" in this country - now our children begin their lives with 10's of thousands of dollars of debt.
When did we allow education to become a highly profitable industry for financial institutions?
It's criminal.
Posted by bellaL at 02:06 AM : Dec 15, 2006"
That statement is proof positive that you have been a victim of our mis-educational system. LOL
Whatever brain you may have had has been 'dismantled' by inferior education, hence that obscene statement. LOL
He is going to leave this country dead broke owing billions, the military in shambles, our children uneducated, millions of seniors without healthcare, New Orleans still in tatters, big business with tax breaks worth billions, the air and water more polluted, global warming ignored.
But, poring money down the black hole of Iraq, now that is OK. Hundreds of thousands dead, OK. A country torn to shreds, OK.
gw is the worse president in US history. That will be his legacy.
The education system in America started going downhill 40 years ago.
When I was in grade school in the 50's, each grade/subject was segregated by ability, so, for say 7th grade, there was a 7-1 class, a 7-2 class and a 7-3 class.
The 1's were overachievers, the 2's average students, the 3's slower learners. Any one student could be at a variety of levels in their different subjects. My own situation, I always made the 1 class in math/science, between 1 and 2 in English and a solid 3 performer in history. I hated history, which I considered useless.. Obviously my mind was geared more to scientific endeavors.
The point is, teachers were able to teach to the student's strength and keep them interested and challenged. In the 1 class, when the prescribed curriculum was completed about 2/3 of the way through the year, the teacher kept us challenged with advanced math teaching beyond the prescribed curriculum.
Somewhere in the 60's, some parent b*tched about their child being stigmatized by being placed in the 3 class. Soon the policy changed and students of all abilities were lumped together.
Teachers however, still had a performance requirement to pass/graduated a certain percentage of their class. Result, they were forced to teach to the level of the slowest kid.
The 1 and 2 level students quickly became bored and bored kids don't learn.
So, while most passed their grades,
the actual knowledge the 1 and 2 level kids possessed, was considerably less than what it could/should have been.
Education in this country will not improve until a basic realization is made; just as people have differing physical abilities, they also have different mental abilities.. We are not created equal. Until the student is once again given that ability to overachieve and excel in a particular subject, we will continue to turn out mediocre achievers.
%u201CRemedial%u201D courses for incoming freshmen was never even a thought in my college days. Either you could or could not perform at the college level, period. Those that couldn%u2019t keep up, washed out of college. Those that could keep up, went on to become the engineers, doctors, historians, lawyers that kept this nation at the top. Well, those overachievers just aren%u2019t there anymore, at least in the public system.
Quick story, went to grocery to pick up a few things.. Bill came to 14.78. The gal, about 18 to 20 years old, saw me remove a 20 from my wallet and jumped the gun and entered 20.00 as cash tendered. When I then reached in my pocket and handed her 3 cents, she was totally blown away. She looked from her right hand, with the 20, to her left hand, with the pennies, to the register, to me, at least 4 times. She then voided my entire order and re-rung it.. Just how pathetic is that. For *** sake, I could calculate the change in my head by the time I was 9, even if I were given the three pennies.
The teaching method seems to be geared to nothing more than passing tests and moving on in order to pass the next test. Repetition is lost.
you are as far in outer space as your hero, the ever war mongering Shrub! Dismantled the public education system. Oh yeah, that sounds like it will fix the problem.
First off, that won't help most people. In most couples, they both work. Then there are the single mothers, such as myself, who also work. When are we going to find time to educate our kids? And think about all the child care money that will have to be spent if the kids are not in school. Think about the money to be spent on private tutors.
I suppose this is too much to ask for you to think about, but how about putting some federal money that is currently being spent on war into fixing the education problem. Perhaps you did not realize this, but when Shrub was govn of Texas, they rank at the bottom of all states on their education system. He has taken his poor record on education from a state level and moved it to a national level. How great for us!
You know, everytime you open your mouth, you make a bigger fool of yourself than before. But far be it from me to discourage you, I can always use a good laugh and you are so absurd it is *** funny.
My area of Northern California makes over $10,000,000,000.00 a year selling pot illegally, and over 70% of that goes to this nations schools. All this because we were duped into thinking people needed their medicine. We just unleashed drug dealers that don't stop at the front doors of our school system.
Having teachers grade their own students may not be the best idea. Schools get their money from how many graduate and attend, This should change.
Crazy violent entertainment, Play stations to die for, Drug dealers backed by the law and pedophiles, These are the things we allow to access our children.
I think these things could easily destroy a young persons chance at an education.
I can definitely relate to Neha's academic pursuance and achievement. I orignate from a third world country. I too graduated high school at 16. It took discipline and preparedness to achieve this but it is more interesting to note that 70% of the graduating class was 16 years old and the other 30% were between 17 & 18 years. At 16 we were mentally prepared to take on global issues which makes the transition into university less difficult.
This is incredibly platitudinous. What specifically should students know to prepare for this brave new networked world?
Posted by nadeau4201 at 12:33 PM : Dec 15, 2006"
Dam, guy!
You are EXACTLY right on 200%! LOL
s,computer engineers,etc.
Posted by newsjeff at 04:34 PM : Dec 15, 2006"
Good point.
But how about youngsters and their families seeing to their education so that the graduates can GROW UP AND BEGIN THEIR OWN ENTERPRISE?
See, the pursuit of knowledge is not about others egging you on: It's also about children and their families TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN SELF DEVELOPMENT!
But that would not solve a thing.
The way I see it, the way of the world has changed.We have to change our way of thinging or teaching.To keep the students interested enough to learn.It takes a certian type of person to keep things interesting and teach.The cost of books,paper&pencils ect. per student. A laptop is probly cheaper. I guess what I'm saying is we need to change our school structure.to catch up,or surpass the rest of the world.
We are a world leeder lets stay on top
The education system in the US didn't just go to He llovernight and fixes won't be quick, but changes need to start. At this point, it's time to try almost anything. How much harm can be done by any reasoned approach for changing a system in such disrepair? It is approaching the point where further harm is unlikely to result from any genuine attempt at improvement.
I had planned to train new quality control employees for an industrial startup operation a few years ago. I thought I could cover concepts specific to the industry and brush up on some basic statistics. I wound up having to put together a remedial math course, first. Several of the employees who had bachelor's degrees had no concept of fractions, decimals or basic math operations. If the level of math skills among high school graduates is lower then we should be grateful that today's cash registers calculate the change due a customer. Otherwise the fast food and convenience store sectors would crumble under the complexity of making change.
Imagine an apprentice program where children, particularly those who are not so good at "book-learning," earn while they learn and good grades are rewarded with bonuses and pay raises. Imagine some smart entrepreneur developing the Wal-Mart of primary and secondary education that delivers the quality of product the consumer (parent and/or student) wants at the lowest price ("Always"). If they fail to deliver, they go out of business.
What is needed is for the government to get out of the way and drop all these programs of minimums which force teachers to teach to a test and not the subject they are supposed to be teaching. And requiring that teachers are educated in the subjects they teach and not just trained teachers, as if that was enough education in itself, would certainly help.
In just about every subject, the private sector can provide a better product at a lower cost for the end consumer than anything produced by a government monopoly. Imagine how much better the mail would run if UPS and Fed-Ex were allowed to compete with the USPS...
We need to have the teachers in charge, the parents supporting and backing the teachers, the kids in uniforms, sitting quietly and attentively at their desks with no electronic games or cell phones to distract them. The school isn't supposed to be a place with no rules and kids do anything they want. It's supposed to be a place where "students" come to follow the rules for the purpose of getting a education.
When I was in school and the bell rang, you were quietly in your seat with your book open to the proper page and your home work ready to hand in and if you acted up both the teacher and your parent were in your face.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 52 Comments