Math and Science?

Earlier this week, I was watching the third presidential debate when I heard President Obama talk about the importance of math and science teachers. He said," What I now want to do is to hire more teachers, especially in math and science, because we know that we've fallen behind when it comes to math and science. And those teachers can make a difference."(the full transcript of the third debate can be viewed here). This same topic had been brought to my attention in earlier debates when President Obama talked about this same issue. I think that it is interesting that he would pinpoint this issue of education to focus on.

I am aware that the United States is well behind other countries in terms of math and science education so that is why Obama is striving for improvement in this particular area. If the United States is lacking in cutting edge math and science, then the nation will not be able to compete with other countries  This idea was also brought up in an article about Obama's stress on this issue. I think it is saying something about the goals of our country by mentioning math and science, not other subjects like english, history, arts, or foreign language. Obviously, the president does not disregard the importance of these other subjects but there is a message he wants to portray by just emphasizing two of them. This makes me wonder if other countries are the most concerned about math and science as well or if it is just the United States. What do you think?