When it comes to investing in America's future, business leaders are saying the smart money is on education.

\"Education is the whole ball of wax. Capital crapper go anywhere in the concern to buy labor, and there is nothing we crapper do to change that. It comes down to having the labor that is prizewinning educated and has the most skills. That is what is going to attract capital and create jobs,\" explained Apostle Byrne, chairman and CEO of Overstock.com.

Analysts say we wager this every period as certain states attract particular industries. For instance, California's Silicon Valley is well-known for technological innovations. As jobs head to specific areas of the country, wealth tends to follow. This same principle crapper be applied to the global economy-countries with a capable workforce module attract the most capital and jobs.

Yet the U.S. ranked 15th in reading, 19th in math and 15th in power among the 28 most highly developed nations in 2000, according to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics.

\"In the past we've gotten around the shortcomings of our education system by in effect importing brains,\" explained Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes, Inc. \"Look at our graduate schools; an extremely broad proportion are students from overseas. We are same a baseball team that has a lousy farm system, but we're able to intend the players we need from other teams.\"

Reversing The Trend

Business leaders have suggested the key to improving America's schools is to introduce a concept that has helped drive the country's private sector for years: Competition.

\"It is no accident that our colleges and universities are so good. They compete,\" said Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. \"They are competing for the prizewinning students and the prizewinning teachers. Unfortunately, that is not true in our elementary and broad schools where the peak accepted seems to be sufficient,\" Melamed said. Melamed and others say that interjecting edifice choice could help change that.

\"With choice you intend accountability; schools have to shew they are doing right by the students,\" Forbes said. \"Consumers ultimately want the prizewinning product and parents want the prizewinning for their children. If they have choice…lo and behold, modify government-run schools module intend their act together because otherwise they lose students and lose money.\"

Engaging Corporate America

While the majority of business leaders understand the importance of the free market and the impact rivalry has in the economy, a much smaller percentage supports edifice choice. Melamed feels that educating these leaders more on edifice choice module help to change that.

So how does the edifice choice movement become a priority?

\"The message needs to be clear that we are losing ground in rivalry to other concern economies…if the trend continues, it won't be a happy ending,\" Melamed said.

Forbes is optimistic that as more business leaders are educated on the issue, support for true education improve module grow and edifice choice module become the status quo.

\"I think people module look back and astonishment what the fuss was all about,\" he said.