Bill Gates Declares America's Public Schools Obsolete

At the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, Bill Gates addressed the nation's governors, chief executives, and education leaders with the pronouncement that "our high schools even when theyre working exactly as designed cannot teach our kids what they need to know today." "When I compare our high schools to what I see when Im traveling abroad," said Gates, "I am terrified for our workforce of tomorrow.In math and science, our 4th graders are among the top students in the world. By 8th grade, theyre in the middle of the pack. By 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations." Gates brought up more statistics: "In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelors degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering." The question is, what is anyone doing about it? For starters, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing millions of dollars into American schools with the goals of raising high school graduation rates and preparing all students for college and work though a range of programs. You can read Gates' speech here and find out more about the educational programs on the Gates Foundation website.