Education by the Numbers

August 25, 2002

by Brian W. Peterson

Our system of education is often in the news because of failures. Theories have changed over the last few decades whether schools should merely educate, prepare students for employment, provide students with life skills or all of the above.

What follows are a few education statistics, presented in no particular order, compiled by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Forty-seven million children attend public elementary and secondary schools; 5.9 million children attend private schools; 1.9 million children are home-schooled.

Nationally, the proficiency of 4th graders breaks down as follows: 32% proficiency in reading; 26% proficiency in math; 29% proficiency in science; 18% proficiency in history.

In constant dollars, between 1970 and 2000, per-pupil spending for public elementary and secondary schools has doubled. Total spending on K-12 education for the 2000-2001 school year, public and private, reached $420 billion.

In 2001, $92.8 billion of taxpayer money was spent on education at the federal level. Out of this money, 40% went to the Department of Education, with the rest going to the Departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Labor and Defense. All of these departments spend education funds.

Ninety-eight percent of all public schools have Internet access, with the ratio of students to computers standing at 5 to 1.

The average teacher salary is $42,898, in constant dollars a 44% increase since 1959.

“Constant dollars” accounts for inflation. Thus, if there was no change in constant dollars of a certain expenditure, that would mean that we are spending the same today, relative to the buying power of the dollar, as we were in Year X. An increase in constant dollars translates to spending more today than we were at a previous date relative to other economic factors.

None of the above stats “proves” anything. They are presented to evoke thought, to consider the system by which education is delivered in this country. Anyone who says that the system does not need to be changed is either ignorant of the product or has a vested interest in the status quo.

The current education mess- and it is a mess- is not just the fault of parents, or teachers, or the lack of respect that children today show, or the teachers’ unions, or society in general. These are all important factors in the decline of American education.

Laws will not make certain parents care. Perhaps a significant raise in pay would correct the problem that, academically speaking, most teachers were in the lower halves of their college classes. The teachers’ unions are not students’ unions- nothing will change that. The problems of respect and society cannot be tackled with a quick fix.

The education problem is a tough one- correctable but tough. But Americans need to rid themselves of the fear of change.

Proposing changes in the present system of educating America’s youth is not acceptable in some quarters. Criticize public schools and the chorus will cry out “visit our schools so you can really see” and “we need to spend more on education.”

If a private business were producing similar results, whether or not there had been such improvements in capital investment and salaries, that business would have declared bankruptcy years ago due to the production of an inferior product. If the plaintiff’s lawyers hadn’t sued the business out of existence for failure to deliver the advertised result, then the lack of sales would have collapsed the business.

Working at retail and fast food jobs is an excellent way for young people to enter the job market. But what kind of future is there beyond these industries if the students cannot read and write well upon graduation?

If we do not proceed with reforms, one of the high school graduating requirements will be the ability to properly repeat the line, “would you like fries with that?”

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Brian W. Peterson writes a political column for the Antelope Valley Press (circulation approximately 60,000) in Palmdale, California. He is a graduate of Oral Roberts University, where he majored in TV/Film. Brian’s weekly commentary and newspaper columns can be found at www.LifeAndLiberty.com.

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