Education Research Conclusion

Every community, regardless of level of wealth, should have equal access to high-quality primary and secondary education.

Summary Basis of our Conclusion  

The quality of primary and secondary education in the US is generally agreed upon as poor by global standards. The debate over improving this reality generally focuses on setting new standards, such as the Common Core, introducing more rigorous testing, examining the role of teachers’ unions and charter schools, and analyzing spending per student. This debate overlooks an important fact: the quality of education in the US is generally high in wealthy communities and low in poorer communities. Average scores, therefore, are misleading and mask the true problem.  

In communities where education is “poor,” the primary challenges are actually related to poverty, not education per se. In other words, when children are cold, hungry, non-English speakers, sometimes homeless, or lacking parental supervision and after-school activities, they generally arrive at school unprepared to learn. 

Therefore, improving education should focus on alleviating the trauma of poverty and preparing children in these communities to learn. Recognizing the magnitude of the required effort, we also believe that educators in these regions are disadvantaged by the bureaucracies of large school systems and the rules created by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Historically, the AFT and the National Education Association (NEA) have resisted several reform efforts, such as principal autonomy in hiring and firing teachers, extension of the school day and year, incentive compensation plans, etc., all of which we believe are critical to addressing the challenges of education in these communities. 

Countries that set an example  

According to a study prepared under the auspices of Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, the US ranked 37th in math, 18th in reading, and 22nd in science out of the 34 OECD countries included in the survey, indicating that there are many countries providing better-quality education. While it is true that US education policy faces considerable poverty-related challenges, other countries that face similar challenges and still excel recognize the disadvantages of poverty and do several things to counteract them. This would include spending equally in communities of diverse wealth levels, providing greater access to early childhood education, providing childcare, and offering other special support to students in need.