FORTUNE — America is at war with itself. Tension between the economic classes, highlighted by venture capitalist Tom Perkins’ recent remarks, are escalating. But what we need are solutions, not words. Recriminations only polarize us further and make it harder to work collectively toward the common goal of prosperity.
We also need to get to the root of the problem. Before we can aspire to a secure economic future, we need to provide a better education for our children first.
A strong early education increases a student’s likelihood of attending a good college and can lead to better jobs, more retirement savings, and reduced dependence on government help. That can enable our government to cut spending and taxes, which helps the economy. It also enables employers to pay higher wages since a better-educated workforce is more productive and profitable. It should be easy to see how this benefits everyone and makes America more competitive.
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While there are many good private schools out there, they are usually expensive and have limited space. Public schools are more affordable and can accommodate more students, but are uneven in performance. That creates an opportunity for the government and private sector to work together to upgrade the public education system, both for profit and as an investment in our future.
The U.S. spends more on education than almost any other developed nation. We spent $11, 193 per primary student and $12, 464 per secondary student in 2010, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and total spending was 7.3% of GDP. Despite this, American students lagged their international counterparts, ranking 36th in mathematics, 28th in science, and 24th in reading globally.
This could be because of misallocation of funds in the public school system, ineffective teaching methods, or ill-conceived syllabi, but whatever the reasons, it is clear that the government has failed to provide an educational system that works.
The private sector is generally more efficient and good at finding innovative solutions to difficult problems. We do not need to spend more money to improve the quality of education — other nations are able to do more with less. What we need is a rethink of our ideas and efficient allocation of resources to produce the best possible results.
