Friday, December 17, 2010

US has “unimpressive” showing on new international test results

This from “Views on the News” from Teachers College at Columbia University:

“The United States made an unimpressive showing on a global comparison of academic achievement among 15-year olds, touching off a fresh round of self-criticism by education reformers, policymakers and pundits, who declared that the results of the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) are evidence that the nation continues to lose ground as a global education and economic leader.”

Following this sobering assessment, the educators at Columbia try to soften the impact. I guess they don’t get it because manufacturing isn’t a big deal around New York City any more, a place which lost a lot of its manufacturing industry years ago.

But, for states like Kentucky, where manufacturing is still important (Bet you didn’t know we still produce something like 40 percent of all aluminum in the US and 30 percent of the country’s stainless steel – per comments at this week’s Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Policy Convention), this is serious stuff.

Just look at the “Made in China,” made in “South Korea,” “Made in Japan,” etc. labels that predominate in our stores today.

And, those labels don’t just appear on low-tech items. If you open up a lot of electronic devices, you will find the microchips come from places like tiny Singapore, a country where kids positively “whup” ours on those international math and science tests.

2 comments:

Jeff Smith said...

Shhhhhh, don't let the sheeple know that we are competitive in the aluminum and stainless steel industries. They will go after them just like they are going after the coal industry.

FYI - in Frankfort, at the Capitol, on Sunday, at 3PM we will be delivering lumps of coal as Christmas gifts to some of our legislators who have not been protecting Kentucky's Coal Industry from the attacks of the leftist controlled EPA, etc.

Anonymous said...

Jeff,

Where have you been? The EPA's clean water excesses are already targeting those industries. The secret, sadly, is out.

Pass out that coal! Kentucky legislators who roll over while our neighbors lose jobs over dubious science deserve nothing more than carbon for Christmas!