Former Vice President Al Gore tells 10th grader that America's kids are lagging in math and science

"We used to lead the world in these subjects. Now we're falling behind," Gore said. "And it's really important because jobs, our economy, the quality of life for young people today and in the future ... depend crucially on doing something about this challenge."

2000: Gore's Grades Belie Image of Studiousness (washingtonpost.com)

For all of Gore's later fascination with science and technology, he often struggled academically in those subjects. The political champion of the natural world received that sophomore D in Natural Sciences 6 (Man's Place in Nature) and then got a C-plus in Natural Sciences 118 his senior year. The self-proclaimed inventor of the Internet avoided all courses in mathematics and logic throughout college, despite his outstanding score on the math portion of the SAT. As was the case with many of his classmates, his high school math grades had dropped from A's to C's as he advanced from trigonometry to calculus in his senior year.