In the 20 years since the federal report on education "A Nation at Risk" appeared, much has been written on test scores of students in the United States versus their counterparts elsewhere. One of the issues is whether their scores are in fact inferior, or merely a statistical difference due to their universal schooling philosophy. Since their public schools are being held accountable, it is no surprise that education leaders are rather defensive about the comparisons. From all of the analysis, however, it seems likely there is a difference, even when comparing similar groups, such as the top 10% from the various nations in any given test. What has not been addressed is the reason for it, other than to say public schools must "fix" it-hence, "No Child Left Behind" legislation. In this article, four somewhat related reasons that could account for the lower scores in the United States are discussed.