To be fair, it's not that we don't have the bright people (that's a function of genetics, in large part, with certain environmental modifiers), it's that too many of our bright people are wasting their time on meaningless majors that don't advance things like "technology," "science," and "standard of living." THAT is a problem with education. We have too many smart people wasting themselves getting a sociology degree or whatnot because they want to "help people" (remember "smart" does not guarantee "common sense") and have bought into the notion that government is the way to do this (again, "smart" doesn't guarantee "common sense").
Couple this with the fact that we really have way too many not-so-bright people going to college (though many end up failing out, even with things like grade inflation) and passing, but really not being competent to do the jobs that their degrees theoretically open up for them.
Meanwhile, the 1% upper crust from India and China come over here, get the education, and look good by comparison.
yes that’s what he meant.