If we're not going to import most of our scientific and engineering talent from India and China, we need to change the culture of U.S. high schools, writes Jens Heycke. Mathletes should be as respected as athletes.
He agrees with Vivek Ramaswamy that "our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long." When Heycke started high school in the 1970s, he saw photos of math and science competition winners -- "rows of earnest, crew-cut, all-American boys -- in the halls. But the last photo was dated 1972. By his graduation in 1980, the achievers had been replaced by football and basketball trophies.
SAT scores declined sharply from 1963 to 1980, he writes. America’s rankings in math and science fell in international comparisons with developed nations.
"Anti-intellectualism remains alive and well in schools today," Heycke writes. At an awards ceremony, his son's vice-principal said, “Now we’re going to honor the real stars: these students didn’t just study; they excelled in two or more sports.”
He worked in Silicon Valley in the 1990s. The valley's pioneers -- William Shockley, Bill Hewlett, David Packard, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore -- were alpha nerds. But the next generation was led by immigrants such as An Wang (China) and Andy Grove (Hungary).
"Only one of the dozen companies I joined (Sun Microsystems) had a native-born American founder; even he had immigrant cofounders," writes Heycke. "Today, over half of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies were founded by immigrants," including 28 of the top 43 artificial intelligence companies.
"To maintain America’s position as a global innovator without importing millions of immigrants," he concludes, we need to "return to the Founders’ Enlightenment-based culture: one that esteems studiousness and relentless pursuit of academic excellence."
He's the author of Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire, a critique of multiculturalism and identity politics.
Ocean Lim was born in the U.S., raised in China by his grandmother till he was five, then sent back to his hard-working, low-earning parents in New York City, he writes on Chalkbeat. He worked hard in school to justify their sacrifices, he writes in Chalkbeat.
The valedictorian of his elementary school, Lim is now a junior at Staten Island Tech, an elite specialized school, with plans to become a chemist. "I feel constant pressure to succeed . . . for my parents," he writes. "I always tell myself that I could be working a little harder, like when I finish taking a test and feel pessimistic about the outcome, despite having studied so hard."
Like other children of immigrants, Lim has learned to live with the pressure. "I know that I am a big part of my parents’ American Dream."