NYTimes | Averages can be misleading. The familiar, one-dimensional story told
about American education is that it was once the best system in the
world but that now it’s headed down the drain, with piles of money
thrown down after it.
The truth is that there are two very different education stories in
America. The children of the wealthiest 10 percent or so do receive some
of the best education in the world, and the quality keeps getting
better. For most everyone else, this is not the case. America’s average
standing in global education rankings has tumbled not because everyone
is falling, but because of the country’s deep, still-widening
achievement gap between socioeconomic groups.
And while America does spend plenty on education, it funnels a
disproportionate share into educating wealthier students, worsening that
gap. The majority of other advanced countries do things differently, at
least at the K-12 level, tilting resources in favor of poorer students.
Historically, the role of the federal government, which takes a back
seat to the states in education, has been to try to close achievement
gaps, but they have continued to widen. Several changes in federal
education policy under President Obama have actually increased the flow
of scarce federal dollars toward those students who need it less,
reinforcing inequities and further weakening overall educational
performance. Reversing America’s slide in international education
rankings will require turning that record on its head.
America’s relative fall in educational attainment is striking in several
dimensions. American baby boomers ages 55 to 64 rank first in their age
group in high school completion and third in college completion after
Israel and Canada. But jump ahead 30 years to millennials ages 25 to 34,
and the United States slips to 10th in high school completion and 13th
in college completion. America is one of only a handful of countries
whose work force today has no more years of schooling than those who are
retiring do.
On international tests, American students consistently score in the
middle of the pack among advanced countries, but America underperforms
most on two measures — preschool enrollment and college on-time
completion. Nearly all 4-year-olds in Japan, France, Britain and Germany
are enrolled in preschool, compared with 69 percent in the United
States. And although the United States is relatively good at getting
high school graduates into college, it is horrible at getting them to
graduate on time with a college degree. With more than half of those who
start college failing to earn a degree, the United States has the
highest college dropout rate in the developed world.
On average, money is not the problem. Given the country’s relative
wealth, per-pupil spending on elementary and high school is roughly on
track with other advanced countries. At the college level, the United
States spends lavishly, far more than any other country.
The problem is that the United States is not spending its education
dollars effectively. At every point along the education track, from
preschool to college, resources are skewed to wealthier students.
