Education: The epicenter of national security

Calling the Education Department "the epicenter of national security," Thomas L. Friedman supports Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's idea of a "national teacher campaign" to recruit new talent to teaching. Noting that countries that lead the pack in international testing insist that their teachers come from top one-third of their college graduating classes, Friedman salutes Duncan's efforts in taking the profession more seriously and elevating it.

There are 3.2 million active teachers in America today, writes Friedman in a New York Times editorial, and half will retire within the next decade. He quotes Duncan, who points out that how we recruit, train, support, evaluate, and compensate their successors "is going to shape public education for the next 30 years." To learn more, read Friedman's full article.