"The understretch is also leaving American children ill-equipped to compete. They usually perform poorly in international educational tests, coming behind Asian countries that spend less on education but work their children harder." [Economist article cited above] This hits the nail on the head... it is questionable to whine for more money [1] when we know that a large part of our education problems are simply a lack of student discipline. Study after study shows that children who were lazy and naturally gifted do not do as well in college as average children who worked at learning. Asians aren't really smarter as much as they work harder (which ultimately means their adults are more capable). The bottom-line is that money isn't the biggest challenge. To Obama's credit, hard work is something he is pushing as well. [1] Ok in a perfect world we could spend more money, but how big is the deficit these days and how much are we already paying in taxes???

Exactly... this is called QinLaoZhiFu, which means "Industrious Wealth". It is a cultural phrase in China that many parents teach their children. They believe that working very hard is rewarded... and this is a national concept.

[responding to an earlier comment about China's inability to innovate] Interestingly, a Communist society where national values are promoted by the central party has a stronger work-ethic and sense of teamwork than this country walking around the world insisting that everyone must adopt democracy... or else. China has plenty of problems, but it is foolish to assume they cannot innovate simply because Confucianism (which isn't even the majority religion in China) doesn't encourage it.

Buy a plane ticket and visit... don't just ride tour buses and listen to guides... talk to real Chinese... eat lunch with them. They are a remarkable people.