Americans See Education Benefits, but Don’t Realize U.S. Falling Behind

Americans see the link between a country’s education system and its economic prosperity. But few appreciate how far behind U.S. schools have fallen.

Nearly nine in 10 of those surveyed by the Associated Press in a poll released on Friday said the quality of education in a country has a large impact on the nation’s economic success. Yet almost half of those polled also said that American students’ achievement test scores are the same as or better than those of children in other industrialized nations. In fact, the United States ranks near the bottom in a survey of students’ math skills in 30 industrialized countries. Hoover Institution economist Eric A. Hanushek estimates that the U.S. would see a 4.5 percent boost in GDP over 20 years if students’ math and science skills improved to become among the best in the world.

The tension between perception and reality is a focus of the Ed in 08 campaign, a nonpartisan push to raise awareness of embattled public schools this election year. While Americans profess to care deeply about education, they also indulge in a bit of wishful thinking. Most parents believe that other schools–not their kids’–are the ones dragging down the nations’ test scores. Nearly a third of parents call their child’s school excellent, but only about one-sixth say the same of other schools. Former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, the chairman of Ed in 08, said: “We have a bit of a reality check that we need to do.” – Anton Troianovski