What The Public Thinks Of Public Schools

Editorial - Septeber 8th, 2009 - Wall Street Journal

Yesterday President Barack Obama delivered a pep talk to America's schoolchildren. The president owes a separate speech to America's parents. They deserve some straight talk on the state of our public schools.

According to the just released Education Next poll put out by the Hoover Institution, public assessment of schools has fallen to the lowest level recorded since Americans were first asked to grade schools in 1981.

Anyone who is surprised by this summary of the article has not been paying attention. Our teachers today spend all their time "teaching" attitudes like "tolerance" and "diversity" rather than facts like science and mathematics. It is the reason that our children listen to a demogogue like Barack Obama and are deceived by his lies. Basic reasoning has been replaced by attitude. Our schools are failing our children and everyone knows it.

One of the most telling of the examples cited in the article is the estimation by our citizens at how much is being spent per pupil in our schools. The public estimates an average of $4,000 per child. The actual average is $10,000 per child. Half our school systems spend more. If you think about this the extravagance is beyond belief. If the average class is 25 children at $10,000 per child, that is $250,000 for the class. The two largest elements in a class would have to be the teacher and the classroom. Let us say that the teacher makes $60,000 per year (about the average teacher salary) and the cost for the space is an exorbitant $24,000 a year. That is less than 1/3 of the money. It is not hard to recognize that our education dollars are being wasted on a grand scale.