What’s wrong with primary and secondary education in the United States? Despite double digit increases in spending on public schools, our students continually underperform compared to their peers at private schools.
Every year, despite more and more tax money being thrown at the public education system, children appear to get less and less. Today, the cost per pupil in public schools is actually higher than the average cost in private schools!
Sadly, no politician—except perhaps the people at the budget office or Department of Education—seems to know about that. For example, in Washington, D.C., the average cost per pupil in public school is $24,600, while the average for private schools is $14,534.
According to recent studies, productivity per hour in the United States for public schools (which is based on test scores and education costs) has decreased by 14.4 percent since 1992, while productivity for private schools has increased by 41 percent per hour.
Private schools are free to innovate, compete for students, and have more flexibility and feedback from teachers and parents when designing curriculums. Conversely, public schools are guaranteed public funding, have a geographic monopoly within their school district, are burdened by bureaucracy, and are falling behind in terms of innovation and productivity. If a private school was failing, parents could simply "buy” education at a different private school.
Give parents more choices when it comes to educating their children. Make public schools
compete for students. This would save tax money and improve the quality of education for our children. As Benjamin Franklin said: "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest". However, that requires our citizens to have a high quality, innovative, competitive, and affordable education.
Kristian Somi is a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University and is a Policy Analyst Intern at The Grassroot Institute.
