Perspective: Can the U.S. still compete?

All together now: "We're No. 17. We're No. 17."

Even before the Association for Computing Machinery's International Collegiate Programming Contest began, everyone knew the United States had its work cut out for it.

So when the final results came in, Uncle Sam was fortunate to have placed 17th in a tie with the likes of Russian powerhouse Perm State University, perhaps best known as a must stopover for countless '80s glam rockers. Who knows? If we try hard enough, maybe next year the U.S. will be able to catch up to No. 9 Izhevsk State Technical University, way out in the not-so-cosmopolitan reaches of Russia's eastern hinterlands.

All silliness aside, the United States' mediocre showing has rightly become a topic of concern in Silicon Valley, where technology leaders are already fretting about the quality of technical talent in tomorrow's work force. The question is whether this was a harbinger of deeper trouble or simply a one-off item that most folks won't bother with--let alone remember--six months from now.

Why don't tech leaders shine the spotlight on a subject presumably near and dear to folks from coast to coast?

The nation does have a prodigious capacity for changing the subject when the topic turns disagreeable, but I'd like to believe that the self-styled leaders of the technology industry will be compelled to show some grit and get the people in power to pay attention. This isn't something like stock option expensing or H1-B visa rules, where calculations of narrow self-interest motivate tech lobbyists in Washington. This is a lot bigger.

Call it enlightened self-interest, if you will, but the luminaries of the technology business have a golden opportunity to take the lead. Why don't tech leaders shine the spotlight on a subject presumably near and dear to folks from coast to coast and all the red states and blue states in between?

Shortly after the publication of the ACM results, I had a conversation with a chief executive from one of the technology industry's leading companies. This CEO spoke on the condition of anonymity. For this Valley big shot, the primary issue was the education, or more precisely, the undereducation of students in this country. For this CEO, years of falling test scores have forced him to reach an uncomfortable conclusion:

"The truth is that we're mediocre. Other countries are pushing their best and brightest to math and the sciences. And what are we doing? Every parent knows we are not spending money effectively. But I don't know that our country has the stomach yet to fix what needs to be fixed. Can we and should we? Yes, but in a way that has to be successful."

And there's the rub. What's the best way of getting from here to there? People have been talking about education reform in this country ever since the first public high school opened its doors in the early 19th century. But there are increasingly insistent calls to take the bull by the horns. A recent survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked 15-year-olds from the United States as 24th in math out of 29 industrialized countries! As if that were not bad enough, their science skills were even worse.

With scores like that, is it any wonder that U.S. technology companies are perfectly happy to import freshly minted engineers from places like India and Russia? Cost is another obvious consideration, but don't make the easy mistake of thinking this is only about saving a few dollars on wages.

Some make the argument that on-the-job training is worth more than a doctorate any day. There's not necessarily a correlation between better math and science skills and success as a software developer, they say, adding that entrepreneurial spirit counts for a lot more than proficiency in calculus. Maybe so, but it reminds me of the guys in high school who finished with lousy SAT grades and then groused about the ones who notched near-perfect scores. It's part of the dumbing down of America that we've been witness to for too long.

The astonishing reality is that we've become accustomed to mediocrity as the norm. Little good will come of that.

Biography
Charles Cooper is CNET News.com's executive editor of commentary.

More Perspectives

[Christopher Hall]

"Little good?" You're too kind.

In all reality, no good will come of it. Superpowers aren't mediocre, superpowers are exceptional. Mediocrity doesn't cut it.

I'm a product of the public school systems and I was always surprised by the utter lack of focus on the sciences and the mathetmatics. Sure, it's all there, but the current stance seems to be that breezing 9th graders through calculus is an indicator of an efficient system. Nothing could be farther from the truth. For most children, taking technical classes at that pace only leads to gaps in the understanding further down the line.

The education systems is in desperate need of an overhaul across the board, but I think that's only a small part of the problem. I believe part of the situation we're in is attributable to the burst of the dot-com bubble. As a country and from an e-commerce standpoint, we're still a bit burned by the whole ordeal. In the late 90's, we saturated the country with all sorts of computer scientists. Now it's gotten to the point that being a computer scientist makes it very difficult to nail down a steady job, what with turnover what it is these days.

It will take some time before we fully recover from this, but this competition may be the fuel we need to give ourselves a shot in the arm.

[googey10]

A few quick thoughts from Europe

There is a tremendous difference in school systems that the US will not overcome easily.
Most countries allow parents to choose both the elementary and whatever form of middle and high school they prefer for their children - also the location of such a school.
And in most countries, particularly those with the best results, most schools and universities are free.
In Europe (except UK, the 51st state), private schools tend to be worse than state (public) schools.
In Russia, China, Poland it is hard to get inscribed in a good university, due to entry exams, although tuition is free.
Austria is another fine example of a school system gone wrong. Austrian school system is world's most expensive (per head), but still according to PISA studies not a very good one (place 12, I believe).
Another German and Austrian example ? a lot of companies fight hard to get engineers, architects and other skilled personnel from the so called Central ? Eastern Europe, and pay them as much or more than they would pay locals with the same degree ? it?s not a matter of money at all there.
Finland has the world's best general education according to PISA studies, although they spend about one third of what Austrian government does.
Another German and Austrian example ? a lot of companies fight hard to get engineers, architects and other skilled personnel from the so called Central ? Eastern Europe, and pay them as much or more than they would pay locals with the same degree ? it?s not a matter of money at all there. They need people they don?t have to teach how to do their jobs.
Forcing all kids whose parents lack the cash for something better to attend the nearest school might sound like a nice democratic idea, but it definitely reduces everything to the lowest common denominator.
Similar to the US TV that was always targeting the 80% uneducated couch potatoes, very egalitarian but again reducing it to the lowest common denominator.
This obviously has an effect to the 10% intelligent humans, who eventually resign and accept the general stupidity level and lose their wishes for something better.
Promoting the idea that the only success is financial, and well-educated intelligent people not earning much are 'losers' doesn't help much either.
In some places in this world such 'losers' are highly respected.
The American general knowledge level has been something to laugh about in civilised countries for many years.
Specialisation is very important, but it should not precede general knowledge.
Just a few quick thoughts, as I said.

[furl12]

What made the US great

What made the US great was never a superior educational system. It was its belief in itself as a unified society. That?s what the current crop of robber barons has destroyed.
***
As a ?resident alien? in the US, I have a mixed opinion on American education. The differences between schooling in the US, EU and other regions are far more profound than whose 14-year olds know the capital of Bangladesh off the tops of their heads ? or whose know the syntax of Java most completely without looking it up.

European education ? as well as that of Russia and India ? is biased in favor of academics. US education was always intended to produce good citizens who could thrive in a capitalist economy. You don?t have to be Albert Einstein to do that: you have to be Jack Welsh. One system produces Alan Turing: the other Bill Gates.

Bill Gates has never won a programming awar, but he has been able to harness all those little nerds ? from around the world ? to create something that does not exist in Europe or Russia or anywhere at all in Africa or South America or Asia.

The problem with the US right now is that it is back to having something that strongly resembles the old Russian model of huge cooperatives (corporations) which harbor an immensely powerful and untouchable cadre of bureaucrats.

From this elite it?s a long way down to the serfs in the cubicles. Serfs need a minimum of a 4-year degree (or preferably graduate degree) just to use the tools they are handed in a highly productive fashion. They don?t need to be creative or innovative. They certainly don?t need to memorize all the least-used syntactical absurdities of Java. That?s the kind of work that can be done by the lowest paid literates in the world.

Bill Gates would not have succeeded if he had been born 20 years later. Jack Welsh?s ignominious end from his glorious beginnings echoes the real problems of the US. It has indeed absorbed much of the talent from the world ?- but also its most corrupt elements. There?s no word for ?cheat? in India ? the concept that anyone has a moral obligation to anyone else in society is entirely alien to them ? and now there isn?t in the US either.
***

[Jane in KC]

Alarming? Yes

That the USA could rank so low in such an important measure is indeed unsettling.

There are many things that have contributed to this result, not the least important of which is the state of our schools. However, I submit that the truly alarming thing is the uncaring attitude prevailing among so many of our citizens. This is seen not only in the schools, but in the workplace and in other areas of life.

This carelessness and thoughtlessness is manifest in so many aspects of life now. No, not everyone is that way - but on the other hand, it is not uncommon, either. It is one of the results of the doctrine of "acceptance": Anything is as good as anything else. Whatever a person does or produces is fine because it is an expression of that individual.

Surely we must strive to be kind and loving to each individual, but somehow that has translated into a requirement to accept everything without regard to any standard of excellence. I don't think a lot of people even have a standard of excellence, let alone refer to it.

What is to be done? It may take something cataclysmic to change us. I hope not.