News Herald – Juliann Talkington
What is wrong with the U.S. education system?
The U.S. has one of the highest per student spending rates in the world, yet the U.S. continues to perform poorly in international academic comparisons. In the recent Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) math comparison, U.S. twelfth-grade students ranked 19th out of 21 countries. Many of the countries that outperformed the U.S. are third world nations.
Then according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation almost 70% of fourth graders are reading below grade level. And according to an April 2009 Education Week report, the average math and reading scores for 17-year-olds have remained the same since the 1970s. And according to The Journal, fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores have shown no real improvement despite increased government regulation aimed at improving performance.
To make matters worse, US college graduates are having difficulty finding jobs. According to a recent Rutgers University study, only about 50% of the 2011 college graduates have jobs and only about thirty percent of those that have jobs have jobs that require a college degree.
Colleges and universities complain students are unprepared for the rigors of college works and that they are having to “dumb-down” course material to address basic skills deficiencies.
Where are U.S. children educated?
Today most US children are educated in the public education system. About 50 million children attend public primary and secondary schools in the United States – nine out of every ten students in grades kindergarten through 12 (K-12). According the to the National Center for Education Statistics there are about 3.3 million full time equivalent teachers in the public primary and secondary school system.
Perhaps the US public education system is too big and bureaucratic.
It is well known that monopolies create market inefficiencies and social challenges – the reason the U.S. has anti-trust regulation. Normally private sector companies are subject to mandatory anti-trust review when the percentage of market share is above 50%. With public schools controlling 90% of K-12 education market, there must be significant economic and social inefficiencies. Sadly, those impacted by the monopoly are the future of our country.
Maybe it is time that we demand that the public school system in the US follow the same anti-trust regulations that apply to private companies. This would encourage innovation and assure our children receive the education they need to succeed in the 21st Century and that the US can remain a world leader.