The U.S. is endangering the American dream by failing to educate its children.
Arianna appeared on MSNBC Monday to discuss the issues facing the nation's deteriorating educational system and explained why learning is key to the American middle class--the focus of her new book "Third World America."
"Education has always been the springboard to the middle class," Arianna said. "The ability to learn, to be able to get a good job, was at the heart of the upward mobility that was the essence of the American dream. And that's no longer the case."
Arianna went on to explain that that a third of students are not graduating from high school.
Host Andrea Mitchell echoed Arianna's concern and cited more disturbing figures. In Korea, Finland, and Singapore 100% of teachers come from the top third of university graduates. In the United states, just 23% come from the top third.
Despite the negative statistics, Arianna told Mitchell that she is hopeful the country can turn around its schools.
"There seems to be a tipping point... this is a 'beyond left or right' issue. And you have liberals and conservatives agreeing that we need to bring a sense of urgency to what's happening. We have the media really engaged.... We have this amazing movie 'Waiting For Superman' that captures the fact... that getting a good education has become a game of chance."
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