Word on the street is that the president, tonight in his State of the Union performance, may use the phrase ?Sputnik moment? or some variation to rationalize gobs more of what's euphemistically called ?investment? in K-12 education. Obama has said similar things before, and if he says them again just remember this:
Our ?Sputnik? was A Nation at Risk [1983]. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. . . . What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur?others are matching and surpassing our educational attainments.
So said then-Education Secretary William J. Bennett to National Journal in 1987. Sputniks, Sputniks everywhere, but not a real crisis in sight.
?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow