Summary: Scores from the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment show that American students continue to trail behind higher performing nations, with the U.S. ranking 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 7, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that for President Barack Obama, the economic cost of his Afghanistan surge plan proved troubling, after he received a private budget memo estimating that an expanded U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years, roughly the same as his health care reform plan.