Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. In post-industrial society the range and quantity of skills and knowledge needed in the workforce are growing as rapidly as their half-life is shrinking. Education is the main means of acquiring and benefiting from skills and knowledge. More education brings better income and job prospects, better health, lower crime rates and more civic engagement. Education is an investment in the next generation and in the nation’s future. Building education is building the nation’s stock of human capital. If we don’t invest, we will fall behind those countries that do.