“Maintaining U.S. competitiveness in today's global economy is crucial,” writes Intel Chairman Craig Barrett:

As a parent, a businessman and a former college professor, I believe education is the best asset we can offer our children, but unless we improve the substandard quality of education in this country, we're not doing all we can to assure a strong future.

When I look at education in the U.S., I see a declining K-12 system that is losing competitiveness. One of the most serious issues is the shortage of well-qualified teachers, which is forcing many school districts to hire uncertified or underqualified people. This is especially crippling in math and science--two fields critical to future economic development.

A U.S. high school student today stands a 70% likelihood of being taught English by a teacher with a degree in English, but only about a 40% chance of studying chemistry with a teacher who majored in chemistry. The resulting shortfall worsens with time; although U.S. fourth graders score well against their international peers, by 12th grade they fall near the bottom or in last place in math and science, respectively.

Barrett suggests four ingredients that are essential to addressing these challenges and forging 21 st-century skills:

First, students need access to appropriate technology. I've seen more than 50 approaches to this ranging from Internet cafés to innovative government-assisted PC purchase programs.

Second, students need connectivity to the world outside their school. We need more efforts like the recent Connect Africa summit in Rwanda, which focused on bringing Africans affordable wireless broadband Internet access.

The third ingredient is educators trained in improved methods of teaching and learning. We have a saying at Intel: "Computers aren't magic; teachers are." That philosophy drives an Intel program that to date, has trained 5 million teachers in 45 countries on using technology in the classroom to help students learn more effectively.

The fourth key to the solution is providing students with useful information. We need to create relevant digital content in a student’s own language, and make those resources available online.

Read the Complete Article at Forbes.com: Craig R. Barrett, Commentary. January 23, 2008.