WASHINGTON — In order to make the United States more competitive in technological innovation, business leaders must step up and play a more forceful role in shaping how so-called STEM education is designed and delivered.
That was the heart of the message delivered by a series of speakers and in a new report released Wednesday during a forum held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Several of the speakers and the report itself espoused taking a tough approach toward a K-12 educational system that they say is too heavily focused on the interests of its personnel.
Among those who called for school systems to rely more heavily on strategic use of technology and less on actual teachers is former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.
“We’ve made a bet on human capital expansion,” Klein said, lamenting that the number of teachers in American schools have increased dramatically over the past few decades but that academic performance has remained stagnant.
“This to me means if we continue this trajectory, if we think lowering class size is going to redeem us, we are going to continue to get these same exact results,” he said.
Instead of hiring more teachers, Klein suggested that school systems invest in more computers and other gadgetry that can be used to tap into the interests and learning styles of today’s youth.
