Please forward this letter to the House Education and Workforce Committee. Call the committee at 1-202-225-4527.
Fax them at 1-202-225-9571. email them at [email protected] <[email protected]> <[email protected]> Education & Economic Sustainability Jumping hurdles & overcoming obstacles Revised: 8 Feb 2011 Tim Williamson Metric America Foundation<https://docs0.google.com/document/d/162eVc-y1EHWgXKwZbz-98iF10yVMijc0YDHkaGn5JcU/edit?hl=en> Brookwood, Alabama, USA Why are we not teaching exclusively the metric system when we know its importance in the development of new technologies and new industries, and in all the sciences and in global trade? Is it because we want our children to jump over the same hurdles and overcome the same obstacles we confronted in our youth, even though it is not productive or necessary? Or, maybe we are hanging on to a piece of our nostalgic past hoping that if we keep doing the same thing over and over again, we’ll get a different and better result. Sorry! Those days are gone. Why do we continue to jeopardize future jobs, and our economy, by asking our children to overcome a series of self-imposed obstacles and hurdles just to compete on the same field as the rest of the world in sciences and math? Do we not know that the sciences and math are the foundations of all innovation in the new technologies which will be the cornerstone of our economy, of new industries, and therefore of jobs? For the most part, everyone knows that long-term economic sustainability is directly tied to educational excellence. Tomorrows jobs will primarily be high tech jobs, and the success of the US is dependent upon consistent, uniform and challenging educational standards and dedicated R&D programs in the sciences. We know that the old industries have left and will not return and that new industries based on new technologies will be the backbone of tomorrows economy. New technologies do not develop in a vacuum, nor do they appear out of thin air in some miraculous way. Technological innovations arise from excellence, creativity and innovation in the sciences and math - from knowledge - not from a course in underwater basket weaving. Educational excellence in the sciences and math is therefore the principle basis of any real sustainable economic policy for our country, or any country for that matter. Those countries that pursue educational excellence in the sciences and math and reading skills will be tomorrows economic leaders. It is that simple. Unless the US makes a concerted effort to remove all obstacles and eliminate all hurdles to success, creativity and innovation in the sciences and math throughout our schools and businesses, we will become a third world ‘has been’ who thought they could rest on their laurels and the world would go our way. We either make the necessary changes now, or we will surely fail together in our stubbornness and obstinacy. What are some of the obvious obstacles our children and grandchildren must overcome to compete in the global marketplace of ideas and new technology? One obstacle is the lack of widespread and mandatory use of the metric system throughout our educational systems and businesses. The metric system is used exclusively in the sciences, but most do not know that it is already used in all science based industries today in the US. The metric system is also the language of trade, so why are we not making the metric system the exclusive measurement system of the US when it is a foundational language of science and trade throughout the world? Why not get all our schools to use and teach the metric system without dual measurements being discussed? Teaching dual units of measure and the conversions between them is simply an attempt at procrastination, and adds to the confusion our students confront daily. Why add to the challenge. Just teach only the metric system. Tim Williamson http://metricamerica.blogspot.com 1-205-765-6090 -- * * * * *If you do not wish to receive these messages, then reply with 'OPT OUT' in the subject line or 'OPT OUT' in the body of the email reply back to me. You may also call me at the number below as well.<[email protected]> * * * *Thankyou for your time. * * * *Tim Williamson Alabama, USA 1-205-765-6090 *
