In the era of industrialization, the United States was a worldwide leader in providing education to the masses. Large sums spent on public schools by state governments, combined with a rise in compulsory education laws, helped make U.S. literacy rates the envy of the world. The technological advantage ensured by an educated populace fueled victories in World War II, making the United States not only a military superpower but also an educational one.

Yet as the Cold War began to heat up, the trend line reversed and the United States found itself growing ever more self-conscious about the quality of its education. Rapid development in East Asia and recovering Western European economies began to wear away at America’s advantage, with Japan managing to close the gap between high school dropout rates by 1990.

In response to the worsening quality of education, the United States launched numerous initiatives to benefit student learning, from the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act” in 1965, to the more modern “No Child Left Behind Act,” passed by Bush in 2002.

But despite these efforts, American education has continued to fall in global stature. On Dec. 6, the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, tests scores were released, confirming a relative weakness for the nation in education. Administered to approximately 560,000 students in 72 mostly wealthy countries, the results represent a rough proxy as to which country is teaching their students the best. The United States, despite ranking among the top 10 wealthiest nations in the world, only scored 24th in reading, 25th in science and 36th in mathematics. Math scores in fact fell when compared to 2012. The results become more surprising when given the fact that a nation like Vietnam managed to beat American students in all three categories, despite the existence of a substantial wealth gap.

Even worse, the results obscure the large gaps between racial groups in the United States. On certain indicators like SAT scores, Black and Hispanic students fall greatly behind their white peers, suggesting that their international rank would be even lower. The results also reveal a substantial drop in the ranking of U.S. students versus 2012, as science, reading, math and dropped by four, seven and ten places respectively.

This bodes ill for the future of our country, for a nation is only as successful as its people. In a globalized world economy, the United States must improve its education system to remain competitive.

So how should society go about combating the dichotomy between the United States and the other nations of its economic caliber? Studies exalted by liberal politicians identify the issue as a lack of funding; however, according to CBS News, the United States spends more money per student than any other nation in the world, coming to a total of $15,171 per student per year, over 1.6 times the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of $9,313. This statistic suggests a misuse of funds. Many argue that the solution is not to throw more and more money at the problem, but rather to spend the money wisely.

This issue is central to the continued development of the United States. The inferior quality of education given to low-income students typically precludes them from success later in life and causes America’s international test scores and reputation to plummet.

The United States should embrace a debate over education policy. As PISA test scores remind us, past success doesn’t guarantee a prosperous future.