The Nobels and American education

That education of the masses in the United States is in deep, deep trouble is undeniable, and something must be done about it pretty soon before everybody starts dropping out of school and becoming a knuckle-walking right-winger. (Just kidding, Republican friends.)

Still, American education does allow cream to rise to the top. This year, nine of the 12 Nobel Prize winners are U.S.-born and U.S.-educated. That should count for something, if only to show that our educational system is still able to serve very smart people -- and perhaps it can be fixed for the rest of us.