Schools
are the heart of the country. Schools are the brains of the country.
Schools are the future of the country.
Most folks I talk to in Orange County think federal support of public schools
is a very bad joke. Washington issues the standards, but not the checks. The
National Association of Education estimates that states and local governments
must spend $29 billion per year just to comply with federal rules about special
education programs and such. No local education leaders I’ve talked to
believe that schools are getting better in this environment of budget slashing.
So, how do we get to the world’s best schools?
Competing for schools funding at the federal level are expenditures on our unneeded
weapons systems. Fundamentally, leaders in Congress are choosing
to buy guns instead of books. We’re spending some $500 billion per year
on the world’s best military – jet fighters, nuclear submarines,
and such from Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop-Grumman. These are great weapons
if you have the Soviet Union to fight. But, they are not much good against suicidal
zealots with box cutters.
I am proposing a mere $28 billion per year increase in federal spending for public
schools. Such new spending is in concert with John Locke’s 17th century
advice about defense: “The best fence against the world is a thorough knowledge
of it.”
Investing in Education is the Key to a High Standard of Living
Ordinarily I hate bumper stickers. The one I do like says, “If you think
education is expensive, try ignorance.” It’s not always easy to see
the payoffs of expenditures on public education, particularly when it’s
not your kids you’re spending the money on. But let’s fast forward
a couple of decades to 2020. Do you want smart executives managing the companies
that provide your pension payments or manage your investments? Do you want smart
doctors and nurses providing your healthcare? Do you want smart scientists finding
new solutions to disease, travel, and communications problems? Do you want smart
political leaders running the city, state, and country in which you will live?
Public education is the best investment in the future of this country, bar none.
The best public education system makes for the best place to live. If you like
feeling safe when you're walking around your town, then high-quality public education
is important to you.
Compared to other countries public education in the United States is an embarrassment.
At 5.3% we’re 57th out of 160 countries when it comes to educational expenditures
as a percentage of GNP. At 180/year we’re 18th when it comes to days in
school. Chinese kids go 251 days/year, Japanese kids 243, and German kids 210.
We’re at 180!
Improving education is simple. Get smart teachers and keep them. This means spending
money, paying K-12 teachers higher salaries. Here’s the package I’ll
work to put on the table for teachers: (1) a one time $10,000 pay raise and (2)
a ten-month schedule instead of nine.
Micro-management magic tricks like standardized testing or voucher systems won’t
improve the quality of teachers or teaching. Indeed, focusing on standards causes
teachers to spend time teaching test taking skills. Much worse, national standards
are inherently biased (by race and gender) and standards kill creativity. Voucher
systems create the inefficiency of commuting students. Further, voucher systems
can destroy schools and the students in those dying schools suffer.
The nine-month schedule no longer makes sense in the air-conditioned services
economy of the United States circa 2000.
We all know pay levels for teachers are shameful. Indeed, the percentage of education
expenditures going to teachers has declined steadily from more than 50% in the
1960s to less than 40% in 1999. The national average salary for starting teachers
was $26,000 and for all teachers $40,000 last year. So we’re talking about
a 38% pay hike for new teachers and a 25% increase for all teachers. Higher pay
will attract better people and keep them from distracting second jobs.
As evidence of the coming crisis in public education please take a look at Kirsten's
letter. Kirsten is a young middle-school teacher in Northern California who responded
via email to my comments on Investing in Education. At a time when we need thousands
of new teachers, the best ones are thinking about leaving the profession! Please
talk to your friends who are k-12 public school teachers and see if they share
Kirsten's sentiments.
There are 2.8 million K-12 public school teachers in America. The immediate cost
of this investment will be some $28 billion (although about 20% of that will
come back in the form of income taxes). There will be substantial childcare and
other savings associated with a ten-month school year and ultimately a big payoff
to all aspects of society.
Long-term payoffs include areas like healthcare (smarter scientists will make
breakthroughs) and international relations (foreign language skills will promote
cooperation with our neighbors). Indeed, consider how fast the field of spinal
cord research is moving with the funding generated by Christopher Reeve. Consider
how urgent the need is for smart people to work on looming societal calamities
like Alzheimer’s disease.
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