5 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE U.S.

Meredith Cohen

5. WE’RE FALLING EVEN FURTHER BEHIND

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s 2012 triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the U.S. has shown no significant improvement in reading, math, or science literacy over the last decade.

5. WE’RE FALLING EVEN FURTHER BEHIND

In 2009, our rankings, out of 34 developed nations, in reading, math, and science were as follows:Reading: 10th

Math: 24th Science Literacy: 19th

In 2012 those rankings dropped to 20th, 29th, and 22nd.

4. WE’RE SPENDING MORE

According to former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, the average per-pupil spending in U.S. public schools rose 212% from 1960 to 1995 in real (i.e. inflation-adjusted) dollars. 

Today the government – federal, state, and local, combined – spends, on average, $10,615 to send one child to public school for one year.

Compare that to how much the rest of the world spends

3. TEACHERS FEEL UNPREPARED

40% of public high school science teachers have neither an undergraduate major nor minor in their main teaching field and 34% of public high school math teachers did not major or minor in math or related fields. 

Only one in five teachers feels well prepared to teach to high academic standards. 

2. WE’RE NOT FINISHING HIGH SCHOOL

Some 1.1 million American students drop out of school every year. (EPE, 2012)

After World War II, the United States had the #1 high school graduation rate in the world. Today, we have dropped to # 22 among 27 industrialized nations. (OECD, 2012)

1. DROPPING OUT IMPACTS HEALTH

The health of a typical high school dropout, by age 18, is similar to that of a more educated person in his 40s. (College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, 2010)

White men with four years of college live 14.2 years longer than black men who drop out of high school. White women with college degrees live 10.3 years longer than black female high school dropouts. (Olshansky, et al., 2012)