7 Signs That U.S. Education Decline is Jeopardizing its National Security

The Forbes article linked shows how our countries poor education system (among other festering problems our country faces) is hurting not only our job market, but our countries defensive lines.  Though a great deal of money is invested in our education system, the U.S. compares poorly to our peers in all of the intellectual arenas.  The global economy requires foreign language skills, yet 8 out of 10 Americans know only one language.  Unemployment resulting from a lack of jobs is one thing, but you know it's bad when there are positions open with no one smart enough to qualify for the job.  The ACT has shown us that only 43% of high schoolers are prepared for college and 50% of college freshman are taking courses to catch up on material that they should have learned in high school.  Most disappointing of all of these statistics, 75% of those who take the military entrance exam fail.
HELLO??  What, is the volume on your Jersey Shore MTV special turned up too high?  Was the McDonald's drive through line so long that you couldn't make it home in time to do your homework?  Our government can only do so much to improve education, the real reconstructive work needs to take place in the mindset of our youth.  Kids need to be empowered and motivated for reasons other than that one test they will take so that they will get one number in the mail that tells them if they are going to college or not.  Education is about finding your passions and personal skills.  People are not standardized like the tests the government hands out.  Not all students are meant to go to college, but the way our system is set up young people are shown two paths: college or failure.  There are alternative routes kids could be preparing for in there younger years, but not if they are not aware of their options.