The Danger of Drift
As Hurricane Katrina built up in the Atlantic last year, swept across Florida, then gathered force in the Gulf, many realized that this was the big one they had expected for years--yet when the storm struck, the country wasn't ready. Our political leadership had failed us. Even now, with a new storm season approaching, the Gulf region is still not ready.
Sadly, Katrina has become a metaphor for the nation, a symbol of what can happen when challenges to our well-being gain force, and we fail to address them. At few times in our history has that metaphor been more important than today, because a series of gathering storms--different from Katrina, yet more menacing--is now heading our way.
Washington once again is more obsessed with the politics of the moment than the long term. The decline and fall of the Bush administration is the topic du jour. Around the president, aides are diving into history books to see what lessons they can learn and scrambling to come up with stopgap measures to revive his fortunes. But the overriding issue isn't whether George W. Bush can climb back 5 or 10 points or who will win more congressional seats this fall. The real issue is whether we will drift through nearly three years with a president wounded, a Congress divided, and a public disillusioned. A thousand days as a leaderless nation would leave us almost defenseless against dangers bearing down upon us.
Most Americans know this in their bones. Traveling the country, one meets growing numbers deeply anxious about the future. And it's not just Iraq, gas prices, and immigration. What it is is the yawning gap between the many long-term problems we face and the inability of our leadership class to fix them. Just what are these "gathering storms"? Everyone has a different list. But there are five big ones on nearly all--storms that have been building for years.
Public education. Twenty-three years have passed since a national commission warned of a "rising tide of mediocrity" in our K-12 schools. After many efforts to improve, test scores are modestly better, especially in early grades. But progress has been excruciatingly slow and uneven. High school dropout rates haven't improved. Only a third finish high school ready for college, and even fewer, 18 percent, actually finish college within six years of high school graduation. "So much reform, so little change," one observer said ruefully.
Not only have we failed to close the achievement gap between rich and poor, and between minorities and whites, but our young people now face growing pressure from Asian students hungry for a better life. "When I compare our high schools to what I see when I'm traveling abroad," said Bill Gates, "I am terrified for our workforce of tomorrow."
Troubles in K-12 spill over into universities, where the United States today is pressed to stay ahead as China, India, and other nations pour investment into science, engineering, and technology education. Larry Summers, Harvard's outgoing president, once estimated that of the top 10 research universities in the world, at least seven, and arguably 10, are now American, but 25 years from now, at least five could be in Asia. Already, more than twice as many engineers, computer scientists, and information technologists are graduating in China as in the United States. All of this suggests that to maintain its edge, America no longer needs evolution in its schools--we need revolution.
advertisement
