According to a recent documentary produced by venture capitalist Bob Compton, students in American schools continue to fall well behind their counterparts in other nations. As the documentary reports and as the Phalanx has been arguing for years. Its not just that students are far behind in the class room but a major factor is how society at large views academic achievement.

Here in the United States, the attention of parents and the community is not on academic success, as in should be, but on various extracurricular activities, particularly sports. The documentary, which focused on students in three countries (US, China and India) noted that outside of the US the "the community recognizes and awards intellectual and academic achievements."

Naturally, this documentary has been criticized by some, the Public School Apologists in particular who have consistently fought every effort from Vouchers to Teacher Accountability, or anything else which might improve opportunities for America's children. The fact remains, however, that in countless barometers, American students simply don't measure up and not only when compared with China or India but practically the entire industrialized world
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4313028&page=1

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