Many people don’t realize it, but every day as the world is progressing, America is not. I don’t mean we aren’t selling cars, producing jobs, or selling homes; I mean that we aren’t securing our future. I am talking about our future workforce, the kids in our public schools right now. It is crucial that America, despite our crumbling economy and enormous deficit, invests heavily in our public education system to ensure future success. A strengthened U.S public education system would allow Americans to compete worldwide for jobs and produce a greater number of Americans with advanced skill sets. This would increase the number of self-sufficient Americans and reduce the number of Americans on welfare, Medicaid, or in our prisons.

As I said before, America needs to develop more educated, self-sufficient citizens. Currently Japan, China, and Russia are outperforming us in test scores and in overall education. These countries are “producing� real thinkers. They are developing people that are often outsmarting us when we apply for jobs, and are designing new technologies we only dream about. The truth is our public schools aren’t creating enough “thinkers.� In fact, America’s lackluster commitment to quality education may be leading many Americans to underestimate the true value of education. In many other countries, education and advanced degrees are highly prized, and people work extremely hard to develop and advance the level of their education. Unfortunately, in America, many students “give up� on their education, don’t see the value in pursuing advanced degrees, and often would prefer to live in their parents� home than to go find jobs and support themselves. There is hope though; if public schools can shape up, America could protect our citizens from losing jobs to foreign countries. If we produce more advanced thinkers, in turn we will start winning jobs that normally would be lost to other countries competing against us in the global economy.

We all live in a global economy. You may be applying for a job in Boston but competing against someone from Beijing. Investing in public education will produce a large amount of American “thinkers.� These people will be self � sufficient individuals who will be able to compete globally and support themselves no matter where they live. This in itself would change our economy. Producing more Americans that are self-sufficient will also change where taxpayers� money goes, as it no longer would need to be spent on federal programs to assist the poor or uneducated.
There is a saying “if you give a man a fish you will feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish you will feed him for a lifetime.� This is similar for the public school system. If America produces self-sufficient, more educated individuals, America could dramatically affect the number of people committing crimes and inhabiting our prisons. People often resort to crime to support their own needs or the needs of their families because they have no other means by which to support themselves. Having more responsible, dependable, and smarter people would also reduce the number of Americans on welfare and Medicaid as more educated people would have secure jobs that not only paid them a good salary but also offered them healthcare benefits.

Many Americans are struggling to compete in the global economy, mostly because the quality of education they are getting is not matching up to what other countries offer. If America re-invested in public schools, we would produce a workforce of self-sufficient Americans who would be able to compete easily in the global economy. Having more self-sufficient Americans would solve many problems our country faces today. A thriving public education system would create Americans who don’t have to rely on federal programs or crime to get by. According to the Chicago Tribune, in President Obama’s budget plan, “the budget notes that a dollar in investment in education has been shown to yield social and economic benefits of $4 - $9.� (March 1, 2009 edition) This proves that there truly is no better investment than the one we make to our public education system. If America turns around the path they are going down now, America could become the leader in education, but America is going to need help from everybody. Our future depends upon a recommitment to public education. In the long run, we all will benefit when everyone receives a high quality education. I urge my fellow Americans to communicate their demands for more public education funding to their legislators today. We literally cannot afford to wait!