Americans like to bask in the greatness of their country on Independence Day, but some big thinkers took time this week to worry that American education isn’t so great, compared to the rest of the world.

During a panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival Wednesday, speakers warned that “The U.S. is rapidly falling behind countries like China and India in preparing workers and needs to make changes quickly to remain competitive in the global economy,” according to a story in the Aspen Times.

It’s an alarm that’s been sounded many times in the last several years as studies, test score and curriculum comparisons and news stories show American education lagging behind nations from Finland to China. Many top business leaders have become increasingly worried that American schools aren't up to educating the kind of workforce we need in the 21st century.

(Our family hosted a Serbian exchange student last year, who matter-of-factly said his small-town high school was much harder than the Denver high school he attended here.)

The anxiety about our international standing is nicely capture in a documentary film titled “2 Million Minutes” – named for the amount of time a student supposedly spends in high school.

The film follows small groups of high schoolers in India, China and Indiana, documenting how much time they spend on their studies and how they feel about school. The golden Indiana kids are not the hardest workers.

The film isn’t in general release and has been shown at conferences and schools, including in Aspen and Denver. No future Colorado showings are currently scheduled, but you can learn more about it at this website, which has a trailer, blog and a newsletter. (And, if you’re really interested, you can order a DVD.)

And, click here for a blog item on Education News Colorado by an editor who saw the film and offers both praise and criticism.