"Math education in the U.S. is in a crisis" - need counter arguments and good sources

I'm writing an argumentative essay which argues that math education in the U.S. is in a crisis and should be made like the more successful countries. In my essay, I'm able to show that america isn't doing so good compared to other countries, using statistics, such as math scores of different countries. Now when I argue that the U.S should change their math curriculum to be like other countries such as Japan, I struggle to predict counter arguments. My professor wants me to consider counter arguments and be able to explain them away. Also I argue in my essay that math education itself is important because many jobs require the us of math, or will at least in the future.

What's another counterargument, one may say against math being important.
By the way I'm writing my letter to a congressman or someone important in education.

A counter argument you could consider would be statistical data on applied mathematics--how many americans are actually making a living via applied mathematics? The beauty of stats is the manipulation. You will be sure to find studies/stats which will support or disprove any view. More over you can counter argue the importance of math, in terms of average americans, through stats which point out that most americans do not earn income via applied mathematics fields.

hope that helps

What counterargument would you make if you wanted to oppose the idea?

It seems like this is not an "arguable thesis." Do you know what that means? In order for a project to be meaningful it must argue a thesis that not everyone would agree with. Everyone agrees that ed reform is necessary, and if we see countries getting better student outcomes in math then we should learn from their example.

So... no one would argue against this. However, if you propose specific reforms, specific curriculum changes, then some people will argue against it. Some people will say, no, let's not use the techniques from Japan, but instead this new technique developed by Such and Such.

So... you need to focus on particular instructional strategies or policy changes... SPECIFICS. and then you will have people who disagree with you. And maybe they will prove to be right! So... get specific, and enjoy the discourse.

:-)

you could certainly have counter arguments on how to reform mathematical education. You could also find a leading mathematician educated in US to show there are indeed some educated people that compare to the education levels of say Japan.