"U.S. dominance in technology, science and business has largely been carried out on the shoulders of the generation of workers who went to high school when the Beatles were still together," observes the Wall Street Journal. "With an ever high percentage of the workforce expected to be employed in knowledge-based industries, school reform is a question of economic survival."
The Beatles generation understood harmonies and subtleties in music, but kids raised on the bang-bang of heavy metal and the jive rhythms of rap often don't. The boomers rebelled against authority while co-opting the values they fought against. They grew up after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, setting off a national hysteria that goaded them into an appreciation of math and science.
When they grew up they wanted to succeed in business, understanding that living well really is the best revenge. They rejected the morality of their parents but were eager to enjoy the material fruits of what used to be called the prevailing Protestant ethic. That required discipline in a culture increasingly dependent on information and innovation in communications.
What's terrifying in these new educational studies is the way that "we, the people" are cheating the generations following us, not giving them the skills to succeed. American universities bring in bright graduate students in math and science from other countries, even though many of them often can't speak much English.
"Many of our high schools are already world class. However, too many graduate students are ill-prepared to succeed in higher education or the workforce," says Rod Paige, outgoing secretary of education. The results of the studies "are a blinking warning light." If education were located in the Department of Homeland Security, that blinking light would be orange.
We need better teachers, better schools and the discipline that breeds motivation. If Jenna Bush reflects the ambition of her generation, leading more of our best and brightest into teaching, that will be all to the good for our fourth and eighth graders - and for the rest of us. Let's hope.