This presidential season the focus has been on the economy. It bothers me a bit that not much has been said about education. There is a concrete, direct link between the quality of a nation's educational system and its economic development.
I was very lucky that I had access to quality education when I was young. Although Riverside does not have top performing schools, it did have very capable teachers who were able to challenge and prepare me for college and beyond. I thank all those teachers who took the extra effort to put up with an annoying, pompous kid, and recognized my potential.
This week Newsweek has a good article assessing the progress of education reform in the United States. This is a good read (link below). I recommend everyone to take a few minutes to read it. I will end with a quote from the article.
The American economy hasn't collapsed in the absence of public-school reform because its success is driven mainly by the small segment of the workforce that is highly educated.
