For decades, regional disparities within the U.S. have limited the ability of a large portion of the students within this country to be competitive participants in the workplace. According to a recent report by the Center for American Progress (CAP), “America systematically assigns the worst teachers and most run-down facilities in the country to the poor children who need great schools the most.”
As the global economy expands, it’s important that we take advantage of every opportunity that we can to maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The U.S. is already at a disadvantage in the number of technology-based students (scientists and engineers) that are graduated each year in Asia at the BS level by factors of more than 10 to 1 (at the higher MS and PhD levels, the U.S. is admittedly more competitive, but that relationship may not last for long). It is unrealistic to not invest in our educational infrastructure that could provide for a stronger American future. A number of individual efforts like Dean Kamen’s FIRST initiative have shown great response and results from relatively small investments. The No Child Left Behind legislation in 2002 was also created with lofty ideals to help improve the educational proficiency of elementary students, but with questionable results. These efforts are still not enough.
The CAP report suggests some pretty radical changes to improve the regional educational disparities, like nationalizing the overall educational system. Given the U.S.’s mostly unsuccessful record of nationalization attempts, such as the U.S. rail system and Social Security, this is a viewpoint that’s not likely to attract much support. While, it’s unrealistic to believe that all educational disparities will ever disappear, there is a need, however, to reduce the growing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ And that can be accomplished with research.
The U.S. currently spends about $260 million/year on R&D for education—less than 1% of what’s spent by the NIH, and less than 0.5% of what’s spent by the DOD on research. What is the risk of switching, say a couple of billion dollars, from the DOD and NIH budgets to support innovation in teaching and learning techniques that could benefit all children in all regional areas of the U.S.? This increased support, even with some starts and stops along the way, could go a long way toward improving a glaring weakness in our fabric.
