by Robert Reiss
Forbes
November 17, 2015
Pretty much everyone in America agrees on the importance of our education system. And yet, consider these numbers: America spends $810 billion annually on our school systems and still we are in 17th place in reading and 32nd place in math globally. Shouldn’t that be unacceptable to us?
In an effort to understand how to fix the American education system, I went to a leader in one of the fastest growing and most successful segments of our school system – charter schools. Below are direct answers from Jon Hage, Founder and CEO of Charter Schools USA on our challenges, actions, a unique strategy for CEOs, insights on presidential candidates and recommendations for the future.
Robert Reiss: Describe the state of education in America and the most significant challenges we face.
Jon Hage: Our hunger for better education in this country never stops. It is the foundation of what makes America great and the key ingredient for global competition. Children are being left behind and the statistics are overwhelming yet worth repeating. Recent studies show that Hispanic and African American students are still graduating 10-15 points behind the national average. The number of students who leave eighth grade without the ability to do grade-level math and reading is closer to 66 percent.