Here is some interesting information everyone may want to check out and/or forward to your elected officials. In case you didn't know already how extreme the situation was, the most recent PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) data reveals the United States earned BELOW average scores for developed countries in the areas of Mathematics and Problem Solving. The accuracy of the test and the reasons for the low marks by US students can be argued (as they were in one of my classes), but the US does not lie in the top 5, 10, or even 20 of developed countries. These are high school students taking these tests.
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/quarterl..._2.asp#Table_B
The data is from 2003, but this is the most recently posted data from the PISA organization. The article was published December 4th. It's shocking to see how far behind the US is.