AI and global competition are already changing education.
Education is how America competes in a global economy: teach the skills our economy needs that AI can't replace. Elevate the trades to close a 4-million-home shortage and fix the doctor shortage — measured by economic return, not politics.
China runs education like building a highway. We run it like an oil change.
America changes education policy every four years like an oil change. Every eight years, the previous rewrite is reversed. China makes 15-year commitments and keeps them. The gap compounds.
China graduates roughly 77,000 STEM PhDs a year against America's ~40,000 — a gap that has widened every year since 2007. Every unfilled STEM job is GDP permanently lost. The same shortfall shows up at home: America is short 4 million homes because it doesn't train enough tradespeople to build them.
The 15-Year Bipartisan Education Compact makes education an economic strategy: closing the trades and doctor shortages, teaching the skills AI can't replace, requiring platforms to teach as well as entertain, and competing in a global economy on a timeline neither party can unilaterally reverse. States control content. The nation sets outcomes.
| The Global Competition | Numbers |
|---|---|
| China STEM PhDs/year | ~77,000 (2025 est.) |
| US STEM PhDs/year | ~40,000 |
| Gap trend | Widening every year since 2007 |
| US STEM job shortfall by 2030 | 1.4 million positions |
| US housing shortage | 4 million homes |
| Doctors blocked from residency (2025) | 9,500+ |
| Where the Majority Agrees | Focus |
|---|---|
| Skilled Trades | Elevate to 4-yr credential — solves the housing shortage |
| Doctor Supply | Expand medical school & residency capacity |
| AI & Robotics Literacy | Core subject at every level |
| PreK → Postgraduate Investment | Sustained, depoliticized funding |
Only 7 states make the world's top 30 in math.
Your state is a country. We ranked all 50 states and DC beside the countries on the same PISA math scale, so you can see exactly who yours is competing with.
- #1Singapore575
- #2Macao (China)552
- #3Taipei547
- #4Hong Kong540
- #5Japan536
- #6South Korea527
- #7Estonia510
- #8Switzerland508
- #9MassachusettsMA503
- #10Canada497
- #11New JerseyNJ495
- #12Netherlands493
- #13Ireland492
- #14UtahUT491
- #15WyomingWY491
- #16Belgium489
- #17Denmark489
- #18United Kingdom489
- #19Poland489
- #20Austria487
- #21Australia487
- #22Czech Republic487
- #23VirginiaVA486
- #24Slovenia485
- #25Finland484
- #26Latvia483
- #27Sweden482
- #28New Zealand479
- #29MinnesotaMN478
- #30WisconsinWI478
Majority solutions: educate to compete in a global economy.
67% of public school parents say expanding pre-K access deserves more federal attention. Every $1 invested in quality PreK returns $7–$12 to the economy. China's STEM advantage starts at age four — the investment has to run the whole pipeline, not reset every four years.
33% of Americans recommend trade school over college (vs. 28% for 4-year degrees). Elevating trades to B.S. status unlocks federal financial aid and builds the 4 million homes America is short — the same shortage that's driving up housing costs nationwide.
Over 9,500 medical school graduates failed to match to a residency in 2025 — trained doctors with no slot to become one. Expanding residency funding and medical school capacity is how education fixes the shortage driving America's healthcare costs.
American kids spend enormous amounts of time on platforms built with some of the most sophisticated attention-capturing algorithms ever created. TheMajority proposes requiring large social-media platforms to dedicate roughly 10% of the economic value they generate from young users toward education — using entertainment to dramatically increase access to science, math, history, financial literacy, AI, languages, and career exploration.
The Department of Education should step back from decisions that belong with parents, teachers, and states, and focus on what needs national leadership: preparing Americans for the jobs that define the next generation — AI, robotics, semiconductors, biotech, energy, healthcare, cybersecurity, and skilled trades. China and other countries are investing aggressively — America can't assume economic leadership is guaranteed.
Before asking an 18-year-old to borrow $100,000 to $400,000 for a degree, colleges should show what they're buying: cost, graduate earnings, debt load, repayment time, and expected return. Every college and degree program receiving federal student-aid dollars must publish a simple, standardized College ROI Score before a student enrolls — an investment should make economic sense for the student making it.