Given the education gap between the people we need in our workforce and the available pool of American talent, how can we continue our economic leadership? How can we innovate our way to continued prosperity?

How can we discover alternatives to foreign oil, systems for detecting and fighting biological and chemical weapons, or breakthrough cures to heart disease, cancer, AIDS, avian flu and a host of other modern maladies if we have not adequately educated our children to grow up and be the scientists, doctors, researchers and technology professionals of tomorrow?

And why are we training our population so poorly for the jobs of the 21st century?