An innovation nation once more – To compete globally, the US workforce needs presidential leadership to bolster math, science, and engineering education.

America is having one of those slow-motion nightmares where you’re back in high school and suddenly you remember you’re enrolled in chemistry, economics, and French. The exams are tomorrow but you haven’t been to any of the classes, read any of the books, or done any of the homework.

In our national dream, we’re high-tech champions, but we forgot that the other countries are also competing, doing just what we once did to be the most innovative, productive, and competitive. Suddenly, the signs are all over, from Indian tech support to Finnish cellphones to Japanese hybrid cars.

If technology will be one of the drivers of the economic prosperity we want, does the America of subprime mortgages and unaffordable healthcare, high gas prices, and low stock prices, still have what it takes? It feels as if we’re slipping … if only we could wake up.

By Todd L. Pittinsky

Full Story: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0915/p09s03-coop.html