海角大神

Nearly 30 years after the landmark education report 鈥淎 Nation at Risk,鈥� a new report finds that America鈥檚 failure to prepare its young people for a globalized world is now so grave that it poses a national security threat.

Some of the key factors that the report cites in linking education shortcomings and a weakened national security: insufficient preparation of children for the highly technical jobs that both the private sector and the military increasingly need to fill, scant and declining foreign-language education, and a weakened 鈥渘ational cohesiveness鈥� as a result of an under-educated and unemployable poor population.

鈥淓ducational failure puts the United States鈥� future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk,鈥� says the report, the result of an independent task force cochaired by former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein.

Noting that the 鈥渄ominant power of the 21st century will depend on human capital,鈥� the report concludes that 鈥渢he failure to produce that capital will undermine American security.鈥�

Ms. Rice on Tuesday zeroed in on signs of faltering national cohesion as at the 鈥渉eart鈥� of the vast and complex issues addressed in the report.

Education is 鈥渢he glue that keeps us together,鈥� she said at an event in Washington Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations, which sponsored the task force. A factor weakening that glue, she said, is the 鈥減erception of a smaller and smaller group that is advancing in America.鈥� She added, 鈥淚f we are not one nation, we cannot defend one nation.鈥�

The report cites a series of indicators of America鈥檚 educational weaknesses 鈥� from US students鈥� disappointing placement on international rankings of math and science competencies, to recent reports out of the Defense Department that three-fourths of young Americans are not qualified to join the armed forces (although physical conditions such as obesity, and not just educational shortcomings, play a role in that number).

The US is not producing enough foreign-language speakers to fill key positions in the Foreign Service, in intelligence agencies, and in America鈥檚 increasingly global companies.

And yet, Rice said, 鈥淲e are the most monolingual major society on Earth.鈥�

To reverse the nation鈥檚 education slide, the task force offers a number of recommendations, one of which is a longer school day and a longer school year. 鈥淲e have the shortest learning day and the shortest learning year practically of all [countries] in the industrialized world,鈥� Rice said.

The task force鈥檚 three main recommendations:

鈥� Putting more emphasis on children learning science, technology, and foreign languages, in addition to reading and math.

鈥� Preparation by the states, in conjunction with the federal government, of what the report calls a 鈥渘ational security readiness audit.鈥� This would measure how schools are doing at teaching 鈥渢he skills and knowledge necessary to safeguard America鈥檚 future security and prosperity.鈥�

鈥� Increasing school choice and competition, namely by charter schools and vouchers 鈥� within an environment of 鈥渆quitable resource allocation.鈥�

Not all the task force鈥檚 members signed on to all the report鈥檚 recommendations, with several members offering 鈥渄issenting鈥� views at the end of the report.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, praised Rice for putting an emphasis on 鈥減ublic education鈥� at the Tuesday event. But as a dissenting member of the task force, she finds that the final report does too little to recognize public education鈥檚 role in America.

鈥淧ublic education has been a cornerstone of democracy and a means of acculturation for generations of Americans,鈥� she writes in her dissenting comment. Referring to calls for US education to be more open to privatization, 鈥淎 move away from that public system could do greater harm to our national security and common bonds than doing nothing at all.鈥�

Another dissenting member, Harvard national security expert Stephen Walt, says the report 鈥渆xaggerates the national security rationale for reforming US K-12 education.鈥� No country is likely to match America鈥檚 overall military power and technological supremacy for decades, he says.

鈥淭here are good reasons to improve K-12 education,鈥� Mr. Walt writes in his dissent, 鈥渂ut an imminent threat to our national security is not high among them.鈥�

He also describes a 鈥渕ismatch鈥� between the report鈥檚 claims and its remedies, saying that if the threat was really 鈥渧ery grave,鈥� emphatic support for more resources would be in order. But, he says, the report only offers 鈥渢he very bland statement鈥� that increased resources 鈥渕ay well be justifiable.鈥�

The task force co-chairs agree that more money may need to be spent on education 鈥� especially if schools are asked to meet certain standards in more subjects, or if school days are extended 鈥� but they also emphasize their view that money is not the answer.

Spending on K-12 education tripled from 1960 to 2010, while results declined, says Mr. Klein, now an education specialist at News Corp.

Meeting the educational challenges outlined in the report 鈥渋s going to cost money,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淲e just have to make sure that the money spent is well spent.鈥�