A New Vision for America Part II - The Educational Imperative

My father's weekly column (cross posted in Editorials and Other Articles)


The future of world leadership demands educational excellence. If in past eras military strength might have been the dominant indicator, that day is drawing to a close. The Soviet Union was the most recent empire to realize that firepower might no longer determine world dominance. The nations which will control the future will be those whose people are academically prepared for a new economic reality. They will be, and already are, those nations which have a sophisticated and well-prepared population, and are invested in developing new forms of energy supporting dramatic manufacturing innovations. There is a growing sense that this message is finally about to dawn on our national leadership. Both President Obama and House Speaker Boehner have stated that education must be a top national priority. Whether they will put up the resources to fund that vision is yet to be determined.

Central to the loss of the American empire is our retreat from educational excellence. Just a generation ago the United States had the highest college graduation rate in the world. Today we rank 12th among the developed countries. President Obama declared, “America cannot lead in the 21st century unless we have the best-educated, most competent workforce in the world.” Arne Duncan, the US

Secretary of Education, writing in FORBES business magazine said, “The 2020 goal is the North Star guiding all our efforts. Roughly 60% of Americans will have to earn college degrees and certificates by 2020 to regain our international leadership, compared to about 40% today.” Those nations which are vaulting by us guarantee affordable, if not free, education for every young person willing to give it a try.

Much of the problem currently focuses on the ability of many of our people to afford a college education. The crisis is germinated, however long before these youth are faced with that obstacle. Given the financial crises across the country, at least 20 states have implemented cuts in K-12 funding and thirty-six states have proposed massive reductions in their overall education budgets! In 2002 UNICEF compared public education in 24 nations and ranked the US 18th. In the last nine years things have grown dramatically worse. Forty years ago the US was number one. We have skidded far downhill just in this decade. South Korean fifteen-year olds now rank second in reading skills. Ours rank seventeenth in reading and thirty-first in math.

The current school-aged generation needs to get their thumbs off of their text gadgets and realize that their future, as well as the nation’s, demands academic excellence. The first line of attack must be parents, local school authorities and citizens within every community who will support efforts to fund educational facilities and first-rate teachers. New approaches to equalize educational expenditures need to be developed so that there is at least a modicum of equity between rich and poor communities.

Over the years we have known that the national government must play a vital role. While the snide remark continues about how you can’t solve a problem by throwing money at it, little is made better by cutting its resources. Consider what made America’s higher education program the world’s finest. Lincoln established land grant colleges during the Civil War. Truman laid the groundwork for our community colleges. The GI bill provided millions of America’s veterans an opportunity to develop meaningful careers. Do all of you “government is the problem” advocates wish we never should have had those things?

Where are the funds to come from which it will take to put the United States again in a position of world leadership? Perhaps one place to look is at the untold hundreds of billions spent yearly on a military strategy which cannot keep us safe from a renegade group of terrorists who have us intimidated while spending next to nothing. It is not a matter of gutting defense, but of rightsizing it without the pressure of those who are financially fed by our war-making machine.

Other programs, such as those bought by earmarks will have to stand aside. Yes, we will even have to look at entitlements. And along with cutting non-essential spending there must be a willingness to “enhance revenue,” which is the polite way to say, “increase taxes.”

If education is not to be a priority that demands those kinds of actions, we will drift even further into second-class status. To meet our educational goals will require a change in thinking as well as the redeployment of economic resources—and that’s a profoundly difficult endeavor.

Charles Bayer


Charles Bayer is a somewhat retired theological professor and congregational pastor. He and Wendy live at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, Calif., where he is still involved in writing a newspaper column and a variety of other jobs, boards and activities.

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