[kreek]

While I think this is a plus, it's still very depressing for the US. Are American schools really so bad that a country of 300 million can't churn out enough tech/science employees?

I'm a freshly minted American (from Canada) and in my 20 person office there is one other American developer (who is also a co-founder).

I've lived in Canada and Europe and the US is by far my preferred place to live, I'm not sure how long it will last though there are generations of Americans that lack the proper skills to compete in the modern economy.

[Someone]

From the viewpoint of a country, this makes perfect sense, short term.

Why would one invest educating one's population if other countries are willing to do that for free?

Long-term, a problem is that, if local education drops too far, you need a huge import of 'human capital' to keep average levels of education constant.