A Broken Visa System

        A recent article in The Economist argues that our current visa system is in desperate need of reform. Year after year, the government receives far more applications for H1B visas than the 65,000 that are allotted to American business. As The Economist notes, in 2007 the government exceeded the limit in one day and a year later it only took two days. This year, the government is expected to exceed it’s limit on April 5^th, five days after the start of the new fiscal year.

The author argues that the cap on visas is potentially hurting the economy since U.S. corporations are not able to fill jobs if their potential new employees are denied visas. Although those who oppose raising the cap on visas claim these foreign workers are stealing American jobs, Michael Clemens, who is an economist and currently works at the Centre for Global Development, notes that given the high cost and time consuming process of acquiring a visa, most companies would prefer to hire a U.S. citizen but often cannot find one that has the necessary job skills.

        Thus, the visa system must be reformed in order to accommodate U.S. businesses. Among the possible proposals, raising the cap from 65,000 H1B visas to 195,000 could help boost the economy. The government should also make reforms to the visa system that enable college students graduating with degrees pertaining to the sciences, engineering field, or mathematics to remain in the United States to work. And lastly, similar to programs already introduced in Canada, the United States should extend more visas to foreign entrepreneurs who have the necessary funds to start a business here in America. Perhaps such a program could combat the 10% decline in new businesses started in Silicon Valley.

Trends in Education

The New York Times reports on how students in New York's schools have performed based on data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is often referred to as the nation's report card. According to the article, the math scores as reported by the city's schools dropped slightly over the two-year period.

Fourth grade math score average dropped by three points, from 237 to 234, while eighth grade scores averaged at 272, one point lower than in 2009. The fourth grade reading score average remained the same as that in 2009, while the eighth grade average increased by two points to 254.

This trend, however, does not conform to the nationwide trend showing that test scores for both fourth and eighth graders are either the same or higher this year than ever before. Nationally, fourth grade scores in both reading and math increased by one point. While eighth grade reading scores stayed the same, the math average is higher by one point. However, experts advise that the slight drop in the test scores of New York students is not large enough to be significant. The national trends are shown in the four line graphs below.

One important fact to note is that New York City's achievement gap between black and white students is shrinking. While black students scored 29 points lower than white students on reading tests in 2002, in 2011 they scored 26 points lower. Black students also scored an average of 25 points lower on fourth grade math tests in 2003, compared with 22 points lower in 2011.