When international test results put American students in the middle of the pack on international tests, John Stossel was up in arms, laying the blame on teacher unions and the public school "monopoly."

But don't expect to hear anything from Stossel about Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries, recently released by the U.N.  It shows that the U.S. did indeed rank in the middle of the pack (12th among 21 countries) for children's Educational Well-Being.  But it also finds that the U.S. is 17th in Material Well-Being, 21st in Health and Safety, 20th in Family and Peer Relationships, and 20th in Behaviors and Risks. Stossel was outraged when American students were in the middle of the pack, but he'll be silent about the U.S. being at the bottom of the list in our treatment of children.

So why did Stossel attack earlier and why won't he attack now?  Because the "blame the schools" approach fits his preconceptions.  Unions are bad.  Public services are less efficient than private enterprises.  Therefore, if students aren't doing as well as they should be, we need to get rid of unions, break up the public school monopoly, and insert private-sector values into our schools.

But you won't hear from Stossel about this study.  With the U.S. ranking 18th in children's Material Well-Being, he won't call for a better social safety net or a higher minimum wage. With the U.S. ranked 21st in Health and Safety, he won't call for universal health care. If solving a problem might require more government involvement, Stossel and his ilk simply pretend the problem doesn't exist.

All this is not to say that the performance of American students on these tests shouldn't be better, or that we don't need changes in our schools to improve teaching and learning.  But it is folly to think scores will soar if we do not address out-of-school factors that affect students' lives.