A WORLD VICTORY FOR U.S. MATH

Not all the news about American education is bad. With little fanfare in this country, the 35th International Mathematical Olympiad was held recently in Hong Kong. Guess who won.

No, this time it wasn't the Chinese or the Russians, who have professional teams that train year-round.

The winning team was from the United States.

These six students were all products of public schools. They got to go to Hong Kong by topping 350,000 other American teen-agers on the American High School Math Exam. The students spent a total of one month together to prepare for the international competition.

While winning the top prize at an international math event is a triumph for the U.S., it can't be taken as an indication that American education is finally catching up with other countries. There always have been bright students here who could compete well. The problem with education in America is that only a small percentage fall into this category. Generally, test scores in science and thinking ability as well as math are much lower for U.S. students than for those from other countries.

Not every American youth is going to be a brain surgeon. But every student needs certain fundamental skills. Beating the Russians and Chinese at math is wonderful. But it doesn't explain why so many Americans are illiterate.