The US Schools are failing to educate...

I came across an article on Reader's Digest about the situation in America's schools. They are pulling an alarm signal regarding the education system there. Well that's just one of the emerging crisis of the American people... They also have huge issues with infrastructure, energy, leadership, immigration, etc... But education is the future... If they fail in this, I really don't know what's gonna save their asses... oh, maybe immigration :)

So here are some numbers on how they do:

997 - the average number of hours a U.S. child spends in class per year.

1023 - the average number of hours a U.S. child spends watching TV.

30% of their students don't graduate from high school.

40% of college freshmen need remedial classes because they are unprepared.

I'd say this is really BAD! Imagine this... Only 70% of the young people finish high school. I wonder how many of those get university studies after that... And even out of those only 60% are able to work afterwards... The rest still need to be educated as they suck totally.

I do agree this is starting to happen in Romania also... People start to fail more and more to graduate from high-school. Which is really bad! And also... the university is not very good. I mean even if you really want to study, most likely you will have to search other education sources as well. I, myself for example, I didn't work that hard to graduate university... and to be honest... I haven't learned that much out of it... On the other hand, I was lucky enough to gain practical experiences and enough interested to study what I was interested in on my own... I do hope that most of my colleagues feel the same... Sadly, I know for sure that some of my friends don't.
So what is there to be done? What can we do for us, for our kids and nevertheless for our future? When I think of it, it really puts me down... It's not that I care that much how America is doing... In fact sometimes I really loathe US and it's policies. What I'm concerned of is the fact that the my country, Romania, has this issue as well. We used to be so great in education. Now, we kinda suck.
The same Reader's Digest comes with some ideas on what we can all do:
As a parent: Set high expectations for your children; pay attention to the quality of the work they're doing and meet with teachers regularly -- especially if you have concerns. Read for your own enjoyment, and read to your kids, regardless of their age.
As a taxpayer: Demand accountability for how school districts spend public money.
As a voter: Support candidates who are committed to educational initiatives that prepare students for life after school.
As a citizen: Keep learning. Enroll in an adult class or workshop. Recognize that -- whether or not you've got children in school -- improving education is critical to the long-term health of the country. Volunteer your time. It's in everybody's interest.