Science Watch, a review of the Web research tool Essential Science Indicators, found a decline in U.S. representation among the world's published scientific papers, dropping from 38.5 percent in 1990 to 33.3 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, the Asian-Pacific share increased and "will likely outstrip that of the United States in six or seven years." Such declines may be reflected in the business of science; the National Academies reported the U.S. share of global high-tech exports fell during the last two decades from 30 to 17 percent, and its share of manufactured goods dropped from +33 billion in 1990 to –24 billion in 2004.

I believe America is a first rate country with more rights and privileges than just about any country in the world. There is no excuse for us to be ranked 39th in the world for education. As an American the idea that there are 38 other countries with a better quality of education just infuriates me.

What have our government officials been doing that they have fallen down on the job to such a degree?

We can not just blame one political party for this. For our educational system to have become so badly damaged has taken years if not decades of neglect to get to this point. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat this issue needs to be a top priority in America starting yesterday.

In order to fix the problems we need to focus on the real issues. We need to stop talking about Intelligent Design and focus on what needs to be done to get the best quality of education in the world for our children.

How can we do it?

We need to change our priorities. If our children are truly what is important then we need to put our money where our brains are going to be tomorrow.

Instead of taxing the citizenry to build bigger and better sports arenas, how about using that money to build bigger and better schools?
How about increasing teachers salaries so that the income of a teacher is appealing to the most talented people?
How about tax or financial incentives for retired or semi-retired professionals to come and teach our children?
How about increasing the financial rewards for students that do well in school and actually paying for them to attend college?
How about looking at the 38 countries that have us beat in the quality of education to see what they are doing right?

There have to be a few thousand other things we can do to help our children get the best education possible. In my opinion all we have for education these days is excuses.

The other big question that I have is what will happen to our economy in 30 years if American becomes 50th in education worldwide?

Who will own America then?