Americans who remember “the good old days” are not alone in complaining about the educational system in this country. Immigrants(移民) complain ，too. Lately a German friend was filled with anger when he learned that the mathematics test given to his son on his first day as a college freshman included multiplication and division. Japanese businessmen in Los Angeles send their children to private schools staffed by teachers imported from Japan to learn mathematics at Japanese levels，generally considered at least a year more advanced than the level here.

But I wonder：If American education is so poor，why is it that this is still the country of innovation(创新)

When I was 12 in Indonesia，I had to memorize the name of all the world's major cities，from Kabul to Karachi. At the same age，my son，who was brought up by a Californian，thought that Buenos Aires was Spanish for good food. However，unlike children of his age in Asia and Europe，my son had studied creative geography. When he was only 6，he drew a map of the route that he traveled to get to school，including the streets，the traffic signs and the houses that he passed.

Dissatisfied American parents forget that in this country their children are able to experiment freely with ideas; without this they will not really be able to think or to believe in themselves.

Critics of American education cannot grasp one thing：freedom. America，I think，is the only country that extends even to children the license to freely speak，write and be creative. Our public education certainly is not perfect，but it is a great deal better than any other. I think I have found the answer to my question.

From the text we learn that________.