I'm going to disagree with the article. Innovation and economic growth isn't the only goal of education. It's certainly good that the US has a nice peak of high-achieving students, but there's a slightly more intangible benefit to an informed populace. And that benefit is that when someone gets on their TV and tells them
"Evolution Is 'Ridiculous -- I Haven't Seen A Half-Monkey, Half-Person Yet", they'll know that that person is horrendously, absurdly ignorant. And when a faceless politician says
this, you know that that person is lying to you to promote their agenda, and realize that perhaps that person is not the best choice to represent you in government.