Education security

Public schools are a threat to national security

Judging by columns that appear occasionally in our newspapers, the Defense Department is not happy with the quality of students coming out of our K-12 system.

The young are not in good physical shape; they don't have constructive personal values; and they are uninformed about history and the world. In short, they are badly educated and often unfit for service in the military.

The problem, according to one advocacy group, is that "more than 70 percent of 17- to 24-year olds in the U.S. cannot serve in the military, primarily because they are too poorly educated, too overweight, or have a serious criminal record."

So, here's the obvious question. Why doesn't the Pentagon do something about this glaring problem? This is where things get interesting.