The conventional wisdom is that America's dominance on the world stage is severely threatened by weaknesses in math and science education. This weakness has led to a shortage of engineers and scientists that will ultimately result in the erosion of our ability to innovate and relegate America to permanent second-class status behind Asian countries whose schools are veritable factories for quality engineers. The issue was documented in the 2005 National Academy of Sciences report "Rising Above the Gathering Storm", with Bill Gates taking up the cause and even perennial C-student George Bush talking about the problem in his 2006 State of the Union address.

However, the gathering storm may be a myth.

A recent report from the non-partisan Urban Institute ( discussed in the October 26, 2007 issue of Business Week) shows that math, science and reading scores at the primary and secondary level have increased over the past two decades (starting well before NCLB), with American students close to the top of international rankings. And contrary to the common corporate rhetoric, American colleges produce more science and engineering graduates than the market can currently absorb. While fairly high salaries for IT workers with extensive experience in specific technical areas (such as .Net or SAP) would indicate some tightness in the supply of available workers (something employers hate), there are questions about how the figures are affected by inflation and the anecdotal decline in low-cost entry-level jobs, especially outside of the defense sector.

From a political standpoint, this means that the Republican obsession with reading and math may be rooted more in alarmist xenophobia and corporate greed rather than any rational concern for the future of public education. The No Child Left Behind abomination helped usher in an era of obsession with testing, focusing primarily on reading and math to the exclusion of other subjects essential for a well-rounded education that will prepare our children to be productive, creative members of society with a capacity for informed judgement and critical thought.

Thankfully, all eight major Democratic presidential candidates prominantly feature education on the issues sections of their websites (with varying levels of detail about their plans) with all committing to reform or repeal of NCLB. Only Dodd and Richardson include provisions that fall into the science/math talking-point trap, although to his credit, Richardson also wants to promote arts and music education, two subjects that promote creativity and teamwork but have often been sacrificed on the alter of lower taxes and standardized testing.

No one can reasonably argue that reading, math and science are not vitally important or that there are not very serious issues at all levels of public education policy, especially in the recruitment and retention of quality teachers. But in evaluating the education plans of prospective office holders at all levels, it is important to not allow alarmist rhetoric to color decisions in a way that results in bad decisions for our schools, our children and our country.