The U.S. has no past of consistently placing among the 'best' in the world as measured by standardized tests. We are not 'losing competitiveness' due to these

The U.S. has no past of consistently placing among the 'best' in the world as measured by standardized tests. We are not 'losing competitiveness' due to these countries because they are smarter. The United States' emphasis on allowing mistakes in the business world more than make up for the fact that our students don't win at math test scores. The United States has never placed among the top 5 in math scores, but that didn't slow down progressive movements in the last 60 years. Being consistently good on math tests is frequently a tautology, as you win the award of "best on math tests", but there is little strong evidence of increased innovation and economic growth based on math test scores alone.