– Proof Positive That American Education is Falling Behind
Lately I’ve been wondering about how some US Congresspeople (senators and representatives) can still flatly deny the possibility that human activities are emitting gases that can heat up the temperature of the atmosphere. So many scientists around the globe have researched the global climate system as well as ecosystems worldwide and have come to a consensus that human activities are heating up the atmosphere. Yet, a few key senators and some likeminded congresspeople continue to block efforts at the local as well as federal level to deal with the global warming reality (note the emphasis is on global not national). The US is a major contributor of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, though China has recently surpassed the US in this regard.
True, there is still a lot to learn about the interplay of climate, society and the environment. In scientific research there is always some degree of uncertainty. Nevertheless, evidence of worrisome changes in climate and in the impacts of those changes on ecosystems, if not yet on society, has been mounting especially in recent times. At first (from 1898 to the mid-1950s) a warming of the atmosphere was viewed as a good thing, because it would hold back the Ice Age that was likely awaiting its onset. But after 1956, the warming began to take on the image of a bad thing.
The rest of the world scratches their collective heads over the lack of political interest in joining other nations to accept, let alone combat, global warming. Civil societies in distant lands, especially their youth truly concerned about global warming, watch the media in disbelief about a U.S. Congress that seems to be science-illiterate (examples are many. Here are two: attempts to reduce the involvement of the US Environmental Protection Agency in setting limits for greenhouse gas emissions or the attempt to strip NOAA of much of its early warning capabilities).
People in America want to believe that America is a world leader today, as it had been in much of the 20th century. The reality is that it is not. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education (USA, 2008),
“The United States ranks 21st of 30 OECD countries in scientific literacy, and the U.S. score of 489 fell below the OECD average of 500 (OECD 2007b). One quarter (24.4 percent) of U.S. fifteen-year-olds do not reach the baseline level of science achievement. This is the level at which students begin to demonstrate the science competencies that will enable them to use science and technology in life situations (OECD 2007b).”
And America’s poor performance is not restricted to science alone. The Alliance also noted,
“But as globalization has progressed, American educational progress has stagnated. Today, the United States’ high school graduation rate ranks near the bottom among developed nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). And on virtually every international assessment of academic proficiency, American secondary school students’ performance varies from mediocre to poor. Given that human capital is a prerequisite for success in the global economy, U.S. economic competitiveness is unsustainable with poorly prepared students feeding into the workforce.”
To me many of our congresspeople are proof positive of that American decline in scientific understanding and reasoning. I sometimes wonder if they believe that the Earth is flat! They are also proof positive that the US Congress must increase its support to education at the k to 12-grade level, instead of being hell-bent to cutting that support.
How then can we — The People — bring sense to a senator like Sensenbrenner or hope back to a senator like Inhofe? Through improved education a smarter, wiser public will lead to a smarter, wiser Congress (both Houses of Congress) and a better appreciation of the importance of educating Americans from “K to Grey.” Get Smart, Congress. Put aside your petty political ambitions and strengthen K to 12 education NOW. Don’t destroy American education in order to save it. that is a failed strategy.
Comments
2 responses to “US Congress and Climate Change”
Regarding the first question about congressmen and women being ‘deniers’: Indeed very frustrating that senators and scientists are somehow compared as if they embody the same depth of knowledge about climate change. As far as I’m concerned ‘eloquence’ in congressmen and women’s speech does not make up for decades of diligently studying our planet and its climate patterns. Very disappointing that we put them side by side.
The education statistics are likely to become just another seemingly inconsequential piece of compiled data (like the climate change stuff) that amounts to nothing worth making policy on. Very puzzling trying to understand lack of consensus in the face of hard data (that shows a clear consensus). Thank you for sharing; enjoyed the post very much!
What “international assessment”? Please enlighten me as I know that the standardized testing that public school children are forced to take is anything but standardized from one state to the next. So when and where does the proctoring of any “international assessment” occur that our K-12 students are alleging engaging in, because in my 15 years in education I have yet to see any that exist in anything other than news print and political speeches from politicians in both parties. Please prove to me that these “international” comparisons based on “international assessments” are anything other than myth.