A new global ranking of 15-year old students' reading, math, and science abilities contains more bad news for the U.S. education system: American teenagers were below average in all categories and ranked 18th out of 30 in the tests, which were carried out in 57 countries that together account for nearly 90% of world GDP.

Finland, China, and Canada took the top three spots. I didn't expect U.S. students to be at the top, but I was a little surprised to see them so close to the bottom.

So what's wrong with our education system? Is it our culture? We seem to glorify simplistic thinking and superficial values in every aspect of public life. Popular culture is dominated by uneducated nitwits that cash in on their own stupidity—Paris Hilton, Brittany Spears, Johnny Knoxville, Ms. Teen USA South Carolina, the majority of professional athletes in any give sport... should I go on?

Even among adults, intellectualism has become stigmatized. We repeatedly ask for "regular Joe" politicians, and being perceived as intellectual is often a kiss of death when running for office. Steven Colbert's chastising of "East-coast, ivory-tower intellectuals" is great satire because it touches on the truth—many politicians, voters, and the mainstream media value faith over intelligence and confidence over curiosity.

Or maybe it's a funding issue? Federally-funded education has been under attack politically, but notice that the top countries in the survey rely on government-funded education. We can only shift so much federal money to defense spending before we start to fall behind in other areas. It's not just happening with education; our infrastructure is being neglected and many areas of scientific research are losing funding.

Or maybe it's because of a lack of family support or something else entirely. I have no idea, but if we don't do something soon, we can kiss our status as the world's only superpower goodbye. China's preparing for the future while we're still stuck in 2001.

Check out the video below for some students' perspective on the education system. They don't take ownership for their own lack of effort, but they do raise some interesting issues.