Time – Laura Overdeck 
Americans are lacking in confidence when it comes to math. Restaurants now print the suggested tip on receipts because so many customers struggle to calculate it — an exercise that draws on 4th grade-level abilities. Math and science education does more than produce tech visionaries and Nobel Prize winners. It produces adults who can navigate regular daily life with confidence, by teaching children how to solve problems creatively, observe the world around them rationally and sift facts from fiction.(more)