On top of our declining educational system, we are seeing a decrease in scientists and engineers.
Decrease in Scientists and Engineers
For decades, US businesses have enjoyed hiring engineers and scientists who have come to the US seeking a higher education at a US University. But, in the last few years, China and India have invested heavily in higher education, which has reduced the number of talented foreign students coming to the US – therefore reduced the number of engineers and scientists available for US companies to hire.
Emerging nations of the global economy are consuming their own engineers, and taking away the once held advantage of US companies to innovation. Companies around the world are now competing for the same human capital.
To reverse these trends, we need to educate the public about what is happening and create a sense of urgency that would encourage educational leaders to improve the system and encourage more students to become engineers and scientist.
The Homeschooling Option
Some have started to realize that the American dream is slipping away – and that education is the root cause.
Homeschooling has been growing 8-12% per year for several years and the national tests show much higher results. In recent years, the higher test scores have triggered an open-door policy at virtually all major collages competing for the brightest students.
Homeschooling is also much more cost effective, with the average cost of $500/year compared with $12000/year in the public school, saving the public tax payers an estimated $24 billion dollars in 2006. For more information about how homeschooling can save your family $20,000/year, check out my eBook.
Yet the federal government has yet to endorse homeschooling because it is heavily lobbied by powerful unions like the AFT (American Federal of Teachers) - which is the second largest labor union in the US and the NEA (National Education Association) - which is the largest labor union in the United States with some 3.2 million members and a budget of over $300 million.
The teachers are not the problem. Most teachers are hard working and willing to do anything to help their students learn. The problem is more likely in the bureaucracies and policies of these unions – which have grown over time and need to be overhauled. But, if you dig a little further to understand why the policies have been created, you will find a cultural shift away from Christianity – which started back in the 60’s.
This shift away from Christianity has removed the Bible from the classroom and replaces it with evolution, humanism (the belief that truth is relative) and multicultural related programs. This fundamental shift away from Christianity has led to the chaos that we now face in our schools today. Students of evolution no longer understand the value of life and cannot determine right from wrong. For a more complete study of these cultural shifts refer to Josh McDowell’s books “Right From Wrong” and “The New Tolerance”.