Top ten problems facing public education in America
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama visits a fifth-grade art class at Savoy School, a public elementary school in Anacostia, a neighborhood in D.C. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)
The most essential problems with public education in America are seldom addressed in plain language. Below, GIMBY hones in on public education’s ten most pressing problems.
Poverty
It’s hard to arrive at school each day focused and ready to learn if you’re hungry and your household is struggling to make ends meet. The American Psychiatric Association has found that the dropout rate for teenagers living in poverty is, on average, ten times higher than it is for their more affluent peers. These discrepancies are only getting worse as a result of a struggling economy. According to the 2010 Census, the poverty rate is the highest it has been since the 1960s, at more than 15 percent. Sadly, a large portion of those in poverty are children — 12.9 million by last count. Julia Thompson, a longtime school teacher and author of The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide, says the problems of childhood poverty call for a stronger bond between schools, communities, and social services.
Classroom size
America’s population growth is outpacing the nation’s ability to build new schools and hire new staff. Budgets simply can’t keep up, and as a result, class sizes are growing. Study after study after study (here, here, and here) has found a strong correlation between classroom size and student performance. The smaller the class is, the better the education received, and the better students perform. Whether reducing a class from 40 to 35, or from 20 to 15, this truth applies at all age levels and at all levels of achievement. Reducing class size is “one of fou