FLUNKING SCIENCE – AT 9:02 A.M. ET:  Well, the president was right on one thing last night...we are falling behind in science.  And one reason is that our schools either aren't teaching it very well, or our kids aren't learning it, or both.  From AP:

UNITED STATES - Scores released Tuesday from the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate there are still vast numbers of students with rudimentary levels of science knowledge.

Just 1 percent of high school seniors scored at the advanced level. Twenty-one percent scored as proficient, while another 40 percent were considered below basic.

The test was updated in 2009 and couldn't be compared with previous years.

A member of the board that oversees the exam says the low number of advanced-level students means there is a small pipeline of those likely to pursue science and technology careers.

And yet, as Michelle Malkin points out, in a fine piece of reporting, there really is no money shortage, no "investment" shortage in our educational system:

Our government already spends more per capita on education than any other of the 34 wealthiest countries in the world except for Switzerland, according to recent analysis of data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Overall inflation-adjusted K-12 spending has tripled over the past 40 years, the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy points out. Yet American test scores and graduation rates are stagnant. One in 10 high schools is a dropout factory. And our students’ performance in one of the most prestigious global math competitions has been so abysmal that the U.S. simply withdrew altogether.

Maybe, shock, we should ask how the money is being spent.  Oh, excuse me.  We can't do that.  It would be oppressive.  It would also violate the sanctity of "academic freedom."  And, Heaven forbid, it might do violence to our respect for "cultural choices." 

What Malkin's statistics prove is that money is not the answer to educational mediocrity.  Educational excellence is the answer.  And educational excellence isn't what most schools are about. 

We might add that teacher-training schools are often more concerned about instilling leftist ideas in future teachers than in training them to instill high standards.  Why should we be surprised at the result?

January 26, 2011