Failing commitment to education ruining U.S.

Jeannine J. Spicer, Henderson

Sunday, July 20, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

I was fortunate to have access to a copy of the Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy (June 2008) while engaged in my part-time job of proctoring the pre-GED test at Henderson Job Connect. The gravity of the information in that report inspired me to share some of the highlights (lowlights.)

How many in this great country realize that one in three of our children is not graduating from high school, that the United States is the only nation whose young adults are less educated than the previous generation, and that 20 percent of adult Americans are illiterate? Our workforce is becoming less educated on average, especially as Baby Boomers are retiring. We are not able to meet the demand for skilled workers.

The challenge presented in the report is for the United States as a country as well as individual states to invest in education and, in particular, adult education. Nevada, again, as in most educational comparisons, ranks third from the bottom in what we spend on adult education in relation to the contributions we receive from the federal government.

The report points out the following benefits of investment in education: increased voter participation (30 percent of those with no high school diploma vote compared with 77 percent of those with master’s degrees and above), higher rates of citizenship acquisition, enhanced volunteerism and civic engagement, success for the next generation, lower incarceration rates, better health and health care, higher personal income, improved fiscal contributions to society, and more consumption of goods and services.

The report ends with the following: “The same spirit and resourcefulness that settled the West and put men on the moon must now lead us to a national commitment to educate for life, specifically for adults who are our current and future workforce, the parents of our children, and the keepers of our freedom. Millions of Americans will enjoy better lives. The American standard of living will be preserved. And the nation will remain a beacon of light and leadership in the world.”

And wouldn’t that help strike a significant blow in the war against terrorism!