Catching up on Herbert

On the flight back from our Ohio launch (pictures to come soon), I was able to catch up on some reading that my staff passed along to me. One op-ed that I enjoyed was from Bob Herbert in last Saturday’s New York Times. The column paints the picture of the education crisis this country is facing and I wanted to share with you some key parts of the piece. Herbert writes:

"At a time when the nation is faced with tough economic challenges at home and ever increasing competition from abroad, it's incredible that more is not being done about the poor performance of so many American high schools […]

"The role of the federal government in improving secondary education should be one of the major issues in the presidential campaign […]

"[But what] is front and center in the campaign is the economy. We're looking for ways to turn things around for the short and long term. One of the answers in this technologically advanced, highly competitive, increasingly globalized environment is staring us right in the eyes […] the best economic stimulus package is a diploma."

Our campaign has been making these points about K-12 education regularly and it is refreshing to see Herbert communicating the message. If we’re going to improve our economy we need to better prepare our students for college and work. We must provide them the skills they need to compete in today’s global economy.