The Politics of Education: "It's Not the Money, Stupid!"
"It's the economy, stupid!" was Clinton's theme in 1992. One of the greatest issues arising out of the current U.S. presidential election is the crisis in education. Most proposals include injecting large sums of money into the current educational system. But money alone will not bring the desired results.
by Cecil E. Maranville
"The U.S. educational system gets a
failing grade" is commonly acknowledged. What can be done about it? How
can we make the schools "stay after school" until they bring their grades
up? This is a broad issue with numerous ramifications and complexities.
Should more teachers be hired, so class sizes can be cut and the teacher-student
ratio improved? Should teachers be paid a better salary, in order to retain
the good ones and attract high caliber ones from other professions? Do
classrooms need to be "wired" for Internet access and equipped with the
latest technology? Should children with behavior problems be separated
from the normal student population? Should tax dollars fund private schools,
if they can provide a better education than public schools do?
All of these strategies have been suggested-and
implemented on small scales in various parts of the country. They all
have one thing in common-a high price tag. Cost to taxpayers will be in
the multiple billions of dollars. Both presidential candidates of the
major parties proffer a large influx of federal money to address the problems.
That's the first thought-reach for the checkbook, especially with the
burgeoning federal budget surplus.
But will more money produce the desired result?
Congress already passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
2000, allocating $1.3 billion for "class size reduction."
However, few seem to realize that class sizes
in public schools have actually been declining over the past 30
years. In 1970, the average class contained 22.3 students. Today, the
average is 17 students per teacher (syndicated columnist Mona Charen, "Who
Needs Computers in Schools," June 27, 2000, emphasis added).
Has student performance improved? The "National
Assessment of Educational Progress, the gold-standard test of academic
achievement given every two years to students in grades four, eight and
12 nationwide, shows no discernible educational benefit in reading
scores for children in smaller classes" (ibid., emphasis added).
