What are our priorities?

In a recent question about President Bush’s contributions, someone brought up No Child Left Behind. Americans always point to the fact that we lag behind in education. Depending on your source, Americans rank 14th-18th worldwide in scientific knowledge and general literacy. We very seldom hear about other rankings that reflect quality of life issues like we are 37th in health care systems and there are 44 other countries with smaller infant mortality rates. We spend less on social programs than almost any industrialized nation. Tell me what really are our priorities?