This same testimony has been reported by Sean Cavanagh (2007) in an
EdWeek article of 13 March 2007 titled "Gates Cites Need to Improve
High Schools, Boost Visas."
Here is some of Gates's testimony regarding high-schools as excerpted
from Kale's blog [bracketed by lines GGGGGG. . . . .]:
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Today, I would like to address these three priorities.
First, and foremost, the U.S. cannot maintain its economic leadership
unless our workforce consists of people who have the knowledge and
skills needed to drive innovation. The problem starts in our schools,
with a great failure taking place in our high schools. Consider the
following facts:
The U.S. has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the
industrialized world. Three out of 10 ninth-graders do not graduate
on time. Nearly half of all African-American and Hispanic ninth
graders do not graduate within four years. Of those who do graduate
and continue on to college, nearly half have to take remedial courses
on material they should have learned in high school.
Unless we transform the American high school, we'll limit the
economic opportunities for millions of Americans. As a nation, we
should start with the goal of every child in the United States
graduating from high school.
To achieve this goal, we need to adopt more rigorous standards and
set clear expectations. We must collect data that will enable
students, parents and teachers to improve performance.
And if we are going to demand more from our students, we'll need to
expect more from teachers. In return, we must provide teachers the
support they need, and we must be willing to reward those who excel.
The Teacher Incentive Fund is an important first step.
Making these changes will be hard, but positive change is achievable.
I know this through my work with the Gates Foundation and our
education partnerships throughout the country, and through
Microsoft's education initiatives, including our Partners in Learning
program. I mention several examples of progress in my written
testimony, but let me mention three in particular:
The Philadelphia School District joined with Microsoft to create a
750 student "School of the Future", which opened last September. This
public high school is rooted in the vision of an empowered community
where education is continuous, relevant, adaptive, and incorporates
best-in-class technology in every area of learning.
Second, New York City has opened almost 200 new schools in the last
five years, with many replacing the city's most underperforming
schools. Our foundation supports this effort through advocacy and
grant-making. The first set of new schools achieved an average 79
percent graduation rate compared to graduation rates ranging from 31
to 51 percent at the schools they replaced.
Early-college high schools are perhaps the most innovative initiative
underway nationally. The approach is to recruit low-performing
students to attend high schools that require enrollment in college
courses. The results are astounding. Currently, there are more than
125 early-college high schools in operation around the country. So
far, more than 95 percent of the first class of ninth graders at the
original three early-college high schools have graduated, and over 80
percent of students have been accepted into four-year colleges.
Such pockets of success are exciting, but they are just the start.
Transforming our education systems will take political leadership,
broad public commitment, and hard work. This committee has done very
important work in this regard, and as you consider legislation during
this Congress, there are opportunities to build on this work.
The challenges are great, but we cannot put them aside. That is why
our foundation has joined with the Broad Foundation to support the
Strong American Schools Partnership. This is intended to inspire the
American people to join an effort that demands more from our leaders
and educators, while ensuring that all of our children benefit from
good teachers, high expectations and challenging coursework.
A specific area where we are failing is in math and science
education. In my written testimony, I detail concerns about the
alarming trends in elementary and secondary schools. We cannot
sustain an economy based on innovation unless we have citizens well
educated in math, science, and engineering.
Our goal should be to double the number of science, technology, and
mathematics graduates in the United States by 2015. This will require
both funding and innovative ideas. We must renew and reinvigorate
math and science curricula with engaging, relevant content. For high
schools, we should aim to recruit 10,000 new teachers and strengthen
the skills of existing teachers. To expand enrollment in
post-secondary math and science programs, each year we should provide
25,000 new undergraduate scholarships and 5,000 new graduate
fellowships.
America's young people must come to see science and math degrees as
key to opportunity. If we fail at this, we won't be able to compete
in the global economy.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
But more importantly, in my opinion, we may not be able to compete in
the universe's contest to maintain a planet capable of sustaining
life, as emphasized by James Duderstadt (2000), president emeritus of
the University of Michigan, in "A University for the 21st Century. "
Duderstadt wrote:
"It could well be that coming to grips with the impact of our
species on our planet, learning to live in a sustainable fashion on
spaceship earth, will become the greatest challenge of our
generation. This will be particularly difficult for a society that
has difficulty looking more than a generation ahead, encumbered by a
political process that generally functions on an
election-by-election basis, as the current debate over global change
makes all too apparent. Universities must take the lead in developing
knowledge and educating the world's citizens to allow us to live
upon our planet while protecting it."
For more on this theme see "The General Population's Ignorance of
Science Related Societal Issues: A Challenge for the University"
[Hake (2000)].
Hake, R.R. 2000. "The General Population's Ignorance of Science
Related Societal Issues: A Challenge for the University," AAPT
Announcer 30(2): 105; online at
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/GuelphSocietyG.pdf> (2.1MB).
Based on an earlier libretto with the leitmotiv: "The road to U.S.
science literacy begins with effective university science courses for
pre-college teachers." The opera dramatizes the fact that the failure
of universities throughout the universe to properly educate
pre-college teachers is responsible for our failure to observe any
signs of either terrestrial or extraterrestrial intelligence.
Wells, H.G. 1920. "The Outline of History." For Amazon.com
\information on a two volume set published in 1974 by Scholarly Press
see <http://tinyurl.com/yjs83d>.