K-12 Education
The United States places the entire education system on a high pedestal. Education, K-12, receives billions of dollars from the federal and state budgets year after year. Despite all the money put into this system the United States is only ranked 14th worldwide with South Korea, Japan, and Singapore ranking in the top 3. The United States is more than capable of raising it’s ranking, but the question arises as to how this can be done. Further, the question becomes as to whether expanding school choice is the direction to go. With there being 98,328 public schools and 30,861 private schools in the country in the 2011 to 2012 school year the sheer number of schools can cause one to believe that expanding schools is not the direction …show more content…
The country had big plans when it signed the “No Child Left Behind Act” in 2002, but here we are in 2016 with most states only having around 20 to 30 percent proficiency in math and reading. This is far from the goal of 100 percent in 2020, which is only four years away. From these statistics, we can see something needs to change. Looking at expanding schools from an economic standpoint, it will not be cheap. Furthermore it would add the cost of building or renovating new buildings, new staff, operation of the building (heating, cooling, electricity, etc.), transportation, and food services. However, the budget already allots these costs for schools that are not considered successful due to the majority of students dropping out by the time they reach high school. Imagine what could be done if we could fix the issues within these schools and create new schools that do not have these issues. One factor that entices families to send their kids to private schools is the small classes. If this option was available to all students despite their social class than the test scores seen in those students who go to private school could be seen in those attending public schools. The simple fact is the less students dropping out, the more who will positively contribute to society by going to college to later earn a career, or go straight out of high school to a job. From there it is quite simple, the more productive members in our society the better our economy does. Therefore, if schooling choices are expanded, in the long term the economy will be positively affected
The United States places the entire education system on a high pedestal. Education, K-12, receives billions of dollars from the federal and state budgets year after year. Despite all the money put into this system the United States is only ranked 14th worldwide with South Korea, Japan, and Singapore ranking in the top 3. The United States is more than capable of raising it’s ranking, but the question arises as to how this can be done. Further, the question becomes as to whether expanding school choice is the direction to go. With there being 98,328 public schools and 30,861 private schools in the country in the 2011 to 2012 school year the sheer number of schools can cause one to believe that expanding schools is not the direction …show more content…
The country had big plans when it signed the “No Child Left Behind Act” in 2002, but here we are in 2016 with most states only having around 20 to 30 percent proficiency in math and reading. This is far from the goal of 100 percent in 2020, which is only four years away. From these statistics, we can see something needs to change. Looking at expanding schools from an economic standpoint, it will not be cheap. Furthermore it would add the cost of building or renovating new buildings, new staff, operation of the building (heating, cooling, electricity, etc.), transportation, and food services. However, the budget already allots these costs for schools that are not considered successful due to the majority of students dropping out by the time they reach high school. Imagine what could be done if we could fix the issues within these schools and create new schools that do not have these issues. One factor that entices families to send their kids to private schools is the small classes. If this option was available to all students despite their social class than the test scores seen in those students who go to private school could be seen in those attending public schools. The simple fact is the less students dropping out, the more who will positively contribute to society by going to college to later earn a career, or go straight out of high school to a job. From there it is quite simple, the more productive members in our society the better our economy does. Therefore, if schooling choices are expanded, in the long term the economy will be positively affected