( CNN ) -- The United States is an exceptional nation . As a people , we are not bound by blood , nationality , ethnicity or religion . Instead , we are connected by the core belief that it does not matter where you came from ; it matters only where you are going . This belief is what makes our country unique . It is also what makes education critically important , more so today than ever . While our political leanings may be different , our careers have taught us that education is inextricably linked to the strength of this country and our leadership in the international community . Today , globalization and the technological sophistication of our economy are widening already troubling socioeconomic disparities , rewarding those who acquire the right skills and punishing brutally those who do not . Much is at stake . It is not hyperbole to say that the state of education in our country is a challenge to our national security . Human capital has never been more important for success in our increasingly competitive world economy . Yet , although the United States invests more in education than almost any other developed nation , its students rank in the middle of the pack in reading and toward the bottom in math and science . On average , U.S. students have fallen behind peers in Korea and China , Poland and Canada and New Zealand . This puts us on a trajectory toward massive failure . Our schools simply must do better . It is essential , too , that we provide a base of knowledge for our students in order to produce citizens who can serve in the Foreign Service , the intelligence community and the armed forces . The State Department is struggling to recruit enough foreign language speakers , U.S. generals are cautioning that enlistees can not read training manuals for sophisticated equipment , and a report from the XVIII Airborne Corps in Iraq found that out of 250 intelligence personnel , fewer than five had the `` aptitude to put pieces together to form a conclusion . '' Schools of Thought blog : Report calls education a national security issue . For the United States to maintain its role of military and diplomatic leadership , it needs highly qualified and capable men and women to conduct its foreign affairs . Knowledge of the world and of foreign languages is essential . Finally , we must also foster a deeper understanding of America 's core institutions and values . Successfully educating our young people about our country , its governmental institutions and values — what is sometimes called `` civics '' — is crucial to our coherence as a population and for informed citizenry . A year ago , we brought together leaders in education , politics , business , academia and the armed forces and diplomatic communities to assess the nation 's educational challenges in the context of national security . We believe education is posing direct threats to our nation : to economic growth , to intellectual property and competitiveness , to the protection of U.S. physical safety and to U.S. global awareness , unity and cohesion . Based on our consultations with these leaders , we offer three recommendations that build upon our core American strengths and the work already under way in schools , districts and states across the nation . America must compete successfully globally , but reform must have a distinctly American character , tapping our creativity , capacity for innovation and the power of competition . Our recommendations are as follows : . • Implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security . States should expand the Common Core State Standards and implement assessments that more meaningfully measure student achievement . Children in every state must have strong foundations in science , technology , and foreign language , and skills like creative thinking and problem solving if they are to be competitive nationally and globally . • Make structural changes to provide all students with meaningful choices . States and school districts should give parents a much wider range of educational options so children are not trapped in failing schools . Choice is especially important for poor parents who are more likely to live in districts with underperforming schools ; mobility gives these children vital options . Enhanced choice and competition among schools , in an environment of equitable resource allocation , will fuel the innovation necessary to transform results . • Launch a `` national security readiness audit '' to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness . We need a stronger and more coordinated effort to assess school-level information — from basic educational outcomes , like the proportion of students passing courses and graduating from high school to specific national security-related skills , such as mastering foreign languages and computer skills . America 's greatest strengths stem from the freedom to innovate , create , compete and succeed . Without a wide base of educated and capable citizens , our strengths will fade , and the United States will lose its capacity to lead in the international community . We embarked on this project because we believe the crucial question for our generation is whether , on our watch , the American dream becomes the American memory . We hope and believe that if the country refocuses and reprioritizes , the American dream can be sustained for future generations . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Joel I. Klein and Condoleezza Rice .
Condoleezza Rice and Joel Klein : Education essential to America 's strength , yet nation lags . They say education also key to national security ; human capital important in world competitivess . They say knowledge of the world , U.S. civics , foreign languages crucial for leadership . Writers : U.S. must expand core standards , offer school choice , teach languages , computer skills .