Chinese Come to the US for Better Education

A news article appeared in the Wall Street Journal recently about the growing number of Chinese millionaires who are moving out of China and into Europe and to the United States. When citing reasons for leaving, one businessman said that in addition to protecting his hard earned assets, he wanted a better education for his children. Another individual when interviewed noted that he wanted  his son to “learn to speak English and to think more freely.”(Wall Street Journal February 22, 2012, page 1).

What is noteworthy about all of this is that their desire to immigrate to the US and have their children educated here come at a time when our education system is in turmoil. Consider these points.

·         Because of the economy, many states have had to cut back on education spending, laying off hundreds of teachers, ordering fewer new and up to date textbooks and computers and taking fewer or no field trips.

·         The Obama administration is now allowing states to opt out of No Child Left Behind Law, basically admitting that the law has been a failure and that students will not be able to meet the proficiency levels that were mandated to be accomplished by 2014. To date 10 states have already opted out of the law’s provisions with other states lining up to follow suit.

·         A number of states, Wisconsin in particular, have sought to wage war against teachers and other public employees by gutting collective bargaining and tenure laws. It should be noted that there is an upcoming recall election for the governor Wisconsin largely because of this issue.

The number of Chinese students who have come to the US to attend American colleges and universities has been growing consistently over the years and now even our beleaguered public education system appears to be looking good to them.

A number of years ago, award winning author and historian David McCullough observed that if all of the borders between all nations were open and people were free to go wherever they pleased, most would choose to come to the United States even with all of its shortcomings.

Lest we let all of this go to our heads, American public education is far from perfect and is in dire need of renovation on multiple levels, from curriculum to technology to teacher preparation. Of great importance is that fact that we cannot afford to politicize public education in this country. The education of our children and grandchildren is the bedrock upon which the future of America as a nation will be based.  Fail them and we fail ourselves as well as future generations of Americans.