Average, as in America's children, won't cut it (by: Thomas L. Friedman)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120810/WIRE/120819997

A big mismatch exists today between how U.S. CEOs look at the world and how many American politicians and parents look at the world — and it may be preventing us from taking our education challenge as seriously as we must.

For many politicians, “outsourcing” is a four-letter word because it involves jobs leaving “here” and going “there.” But for many CEOs, outsourcing is over. In today's seamlessly connected world, there is no “out” and no “in” anymore. There is only the “good,” “better” and “best” places to get work done, and if they don't tap into the best, most cost-efficient venue wherever that is, their competition will.

For politicians, it's all about “made in America,” but, for CEOs, it is increasingly about “made in the world” — a world where more and more products are now imagined everywhere, designed everywhere, manufactured everywhere in global supply chains and sold everywhere. American politicians are still citizens of our states and cities, while CEOs are increasingly citizens of the world, with mixed loyalties. For politicians, all their customers are here; for CEOs, 90 percent of their new customers are abroad. The credo of the politician today is: “Why are you not hiring more people here?” The credo of the CEO today is: “You only hire someone — anywhere — if you absolutely have to,” if a smarter machine, robot or computer program is not available.

Like politicians, too many parents think if their kid's school is doing better than the one next door, they're fine.

Well, a dose of reality is on the way thanks to Andreas Schleicher and his team at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which coordinates the Program for International Student Assessment, known as the PISA test. Every three years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been giving the PISA test to a sample of 15-year-olds, now in 70 countries, to evaluate reading, math and science skills. The U.S. does not stand out. It's just average, but many parents are sure their kid is above average.

“Imagine, in a few years, you could sign onto a website and see this is how my school compares with a similar school anywhere in the world,” says Schleicher. “And then you take this information to your local superintendent and ask: ‘Why are we not doing as well as schools in China or Finland?'”

“If parents do not know, they will not demand, as consumers, a high quality of educational service. They will just say the school my kids are going to is as good as the school I went to.” If this comparison platform can be built at this micro scale, he says, it could “lead to empowerment at the really decisive level” of parents, principals and teachers demanding something better.