This is what it's come to...
The Washington Post just published an article describing a teacher who's taken to giving blood regularly in order to make some extra income. "She had been giving plasma for nearly six months, and she had a routine locked in place."
This is what it's come to. Teachers now farm their own bodies to make ends meet. I wish I could say that this teacher, Christina Seal, is an anomaly. But I now hear stories like hers all the time. And there's a reason why.
The U.S. spends about $12k per pupil per year* for public k-12 education. Since students average around five courses per semester, that’s about $1,200 per course. Given the vast array of services provided by public school education — highly trained teachers and staff, classroom space, textbooks, instructional design, learning technology, computer labs, libraries, clubs, instruction in music and art, theater programs, health education, special education, recreational space, exercise space, sports programs, field trips, study abroad opportunities, guest speakers, cafeterias, college readiness, counseling, and support services — $1,200 per course seems reasonably priced for all that in-person care and instruction.
But there are many people who think it's too much, many who are vehemently opposed to increasing education funding. They often argue, “But the U.S. already pays more per capita on education than any other country!”
Which is not quite true — several European countries spend more.** However, it is true that the U.S. does pay more per student than do most other countries.
That said, the implied argument that the U.S. shouldn't increase education funding because "we spend too much as it is" is completely specious. It compares apples to oranges.
Every other country in the U.S.’s peer group of nations — and many that aren’t even in the U.S.’s peer group — spend far more per capita on all their other social services. Their total human capital investment is far greater than America’s.
Consider the fact that 100% of future U.S. GDP comes from education today (and, a much smaller amount, from immigration — i.e., someone else’s education system). Now consider all the other social services besides public k-12 education that affect the overall availability and capabilities of our national workforce, today and in the future.
America’s total human capital investment per capita is by far the lowest of any industrialized nation. The U.S. has weaker unemployment benefits than many other countries do, and mediocre workforce retraining programs. The U.S. does not make health care low-cost or free, as many other countries do. The U.S. does not have a strong social safety net for the poor and working poor, as many other countries do. The U.S. does not have employee-friendly labor laws that give parents more job security and vacation time, allowing them to spend more quality time engaging with their children, as many other countries do. The U.S. does not provide low-cost or free options for higher education, as many other countries do. The U.S. does not subsidize or pay for childcare, as many other countries do. The U.S. does not make early childhood (pre-Kindergarten) education low-cost or free, as many other countries do. Collectively, these policy choices create massive additional stresses on the family unit and, ultimately, the overall wellbeing of America’s children
The safety valve the U.S. relies upon to try to make up the difference is its public school system. If both parents work, the public school system serves as child care. If children are poor, the public school system feeds them. If a child’s home life is unstable, the public school system provides structure and security. If a child suffers from learning disabilities or psychological problems, the public school system provides counseling and support.
It seems that U.S. policymakers ask public schools to do just about everything.
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But schools are not properly equipped, trained, or funded to fill of all the gaps created by America’s underinvestment across the rest of its human capital portfolio. Schools do their best, nonetheless. And when some massive new problem comes along, such as COVID, U.S. policymakers throw that on the pile and tell schools to deal with that, too (with little or no new funding).
Inevitably, our public school system is beginning to break, as educators abandon the profession. AllCourse conducted a massive research project analyzing teacher shortages across the U.S., and we found that in every single state, there were multiple news reports referring to a “teacher shortage crisis” even before COVID. The pandemic then drove another 5% of teachers out of the profession, and many more** say they’re thinking seriously of leaving, while the pipeline of recent graduates with education degrees continues to decline year after year. States have reacted by lowering the standards required to become a teacher — 18 and 19 years-olds are now being approved to teach in America's classrooms. But even that is just stanching the wound. If, as many superintendents believe, there will be another exodus of teachers out of the profession at the end of this school year, it will become nearly impossible to properly staff our schools.
After World War II, the U.S. enjoyed a tremendous competitive advantage over the rest of the world, which was either broken by war or still undeveloped. On top of that, Congress passed the GI Bill, sending young Americans to college in numbers never seen before anywhere on Earth and further increasing America’s competitive advantage. The inevitable result was decades of American industrial and economic dominance.
But the rest of the world has been catching up ever since. For the U.S. to maintain the advantages it has come to enjoy in the preceding century, it will need to invest much more on its human capital in the next century.
So — to those who argue that they U.S. already spends too much on public school education — please stop. Just, stop. You’re not only hurting our children. You’re hurting our country as well.
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*?https://www.governing.com/archive/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html . This number depends on the year and what you include. I’ve seen higher numbers, but they include private school spending.