The Nation : Global Illiteracy Charged

America’s schoolchildren are “globally illiterate,” according to a report that urged U.S. schools to stress world history, geography and knowledge of other cultures. But the report, “The United States Prepares for Its Future: Global Perspectives in Education,” drew a quick broadside from Education Secretary William J. Bennett who criticized “global education” as an invitation “to suspend judgment and get wishy.” The report by the 19-member Study Commission on Global Education, chaired by former University of California President Clark Kerr, does not call for new courses, but urges that existing courses, from history and geography to biology and physics, be “infused with a global perspective.”