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As an outsider (i.e. non American), I hope I won't tread on any toes if I voice some of my thoughts on this subject...
Some people on this thread seem to assume that there is a link between the quality of basic education and the quality and effectiveness of research in a country. I don't believe that is true. From what I read, the opposite is true to some extent. Countries which invest heavily in basic education, such as France or Japan, often fare very poorly in the research field, and vice versa. I suppose it has to do with the allocation of limited resources. A good education costs a lot.
Not that I'm saying that having a good basic education is a waste of resources. Quite the contrary. But it's not a question of staying on the cutting edge of research, or of attaining or retaining power. As I see it, it's more a question of how you use that power.
At least one person already mentioned the link to democracy, and that is the most important one IMO. Democracy supposes that the average citizen is responsible and educated. And this is what a good basic education should produce, I believe: responsible citizens, who know how to make informed decisions.
In that light, an even more important thing than teaching scientific facts is teaching about science: what it is, how it works, what a scientific fact is, and how it is established.
There are many misunderstandings about science, but what it all boils down to, I think, is that science is scary, because it allows doubt. Worse, doubt is one of the main tools of scientific research. And people don't want doubts, they want reassurance. Learning to deal with doubt is one of the main challenges of the modern world.
This may seem a little too theoretical, but I do believe it is essential. This is not just about teaching facts, it's about teaching to recognize facts from reassuring fiction. It's about learning to cope with the world as it is, rather than as we would like it to be. This is about being a responsible citizen in a democracy. I think this is a challenge we all face, and education may not be the only answer, but it's the starting point without which anything else may prove to be pointless.
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