At a Disadvantage.

American teens simply can’t keep up intellectually with their counterparts in the global community.

Fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. ranked 25th among peers from 34 countries on a math test and scored in the middle in science and reading, while China’s Shanghai topped the charts, raising concern that the U.S. isn’t prepared to succeed in the global economy.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, which represents 34 countries, today released the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment. For the first time, the test broke out the performance of China’s Shanghai region, which topped every country in all academic categories. The U.S. government considers the test one of the most comprehensive measures of international achievement.

The results show that U.S. students must improve to compete in a global economy, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said yesterday in a telephone interview. President Barack Obama’s administration is promoting national curriculum standards and a revamping of teacher pay that stresses performance rather than credentials and seniority.

via U.S. Teens Lag as China Soars on International Test – Bloomberg.

Get that last part?

Unlike in the private sector, where employees are compensated based on how well they do their jobs and let go if they don’t produce successful results, American teachers are instead paid based on how many degrees they have and how many years they’ve survived on the job–regardless of how well they teach students or.

Thank you, teacher’s unions!

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