Education reform seems an unlikely issue for the Council on Foreign Relations to tackle. But its recent report, "U.S. Education Reform and National Security," makes a persuasive case for a link between the health of our education system and national security.
The report was generated by a committee co-chaired by Condoleezza Rice and former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. It argues that we need to dramatically improve our schools to foster a thriving, innovative economy, to compete globally, and to ensure that our national defense and intelligence apparatuses are staffed properly.
The CFR report surveys educational attainment rates, the Department of Education's National Assessment of Education Progress (a periodic evaluation of student knowledge in various subjects) and other relevant metrics. Almost all the results present cause for alarm, especially when compared with other countries' performance. We are, in short, falling behind our competitors.
To address these failings, the CFR report offers a series of remedies, including more school choice and better and stricter evaluation of teachers and schools. It also calls for the implementation of a set of standards developed by the National Governors Association to be implemented by the states -- all but five have agreed to accept them, something that might induce heartburn in those who still believe in educational federalism and local control of curriculum.
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