Usually when we talk about the ?international? side of education, it's to bemoan that we're slipping behind our foreign competitors. PISA! TIMSS! Our students aren't learning any math or science! I'm kind of bored with this line of reasoning. So, here's another take to spice up your Friday morning: According to the NYT, the Administration's ?Plan B? for Iran (recognizing that the new U.N. sanctions?Plan A?aren't really going to do much good, just like previous sanctions haven't done much good) is to spirit away Iran's nuclear scientists. No scientists, no nuclear program. It's a targeted brain drain a la defense strategy. Interesting, no? I thought so.
Indeed, The Economist touched on this issue in last week's edition's ?Lexington? column. It encouraged Obama to open up our borders to the smart and ambitious educated classes of other countries. Rather than compete with them, we should invite them to the U.S., where quality of life and opportunity far outweigh that of their native lands. And if they're coming from North Korea, Iran, or any of our other not-so-friendly neighbors, probably bolstering our security policy too.
Couple this with current U.S. immigration policy, which kicks out foreign graduates of top American universities having given them a degree; PhDs, in fact, are often subsidized with government dollars and recipients then sent home for lack of an American working visa. In light of the fact that intellectual jobs were the only ones that held steady during the recession (white collar ones declined by 8%, blue collar by 16%), we should probably be thinking less about how many of those blue collar jobs are being outsourced to India, and more about how to keep smart educated folks here?and attract more of their internationally-educated counterparts to our shores.
So there you have it: A narrative on the relationship of education and foreign policy that mentions no test scores and uses no acronyms. Refreshing.
?Stafford Palmieri
