William Bennett says STEM-Deficient Education Holds Back Nation's Economy

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America's K-12 and post-secondary education systems are failing in their mission to prepare our nation's children and young adults in science, technology, engineering and math -- the STEM fields. And it is a national disaster in the making.

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During my tenure as U.S. Secretary of Education, I had significant concerns about the academic rigor and relevance being delivered to America's students in these fields. Today, American students score 23rd in math and 31st in science when compared with 65 other top industrial countries.

And yet a recent study by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology found: "Economic forecasts point to a need for producing, over the next decade, approximately 1 million more college graduates in STEM fields than expected under current assumptions."

We are nowhere near meeting that goal.

Our middling performance today stunts our nation's economic growth and drastically undermines the ability of the next generation to support itself and its country with well-paying, growth-producing and satisfying jobs.

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Source: Detroit Free Press