Good Public Education Crucial to Industrial Competitiveness
There have been many programs proposed to improve education in our public schools, some of them might be characterized as "harebrained." But a new program exemplified in systems of public schools in Chicago and New York City, called Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) spans grades 9 to 14, extends the school day and the school year, and which offers the opportunity for students to earn college credits approaches the formulas for public education that have been remarkably successful in Taiwan, South Korea and elsewhere.
Why do we need to improve our public schools? To stay competitive. As far back as the fifties, while I was still in high school, I became aware that graduates of European high schools (lycée and Gymasium), had the equivalent education of an American college sophomore. Businesses like Westinghouse Electric Corp. helped to compensate for the difference with their education centers. And a little research revealed that the public schools in Europe usually had both more hours in the school day and more school days each year. In recent years, companies have found it cheaper to have their goods produced overseas and save money by shutting down their education centers.
If the United States is to remain competitive, we must all push for programs like P-TECH in our public school systems. Learn more Apen Institute and talk to your local administrators and write to your congressmen.
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