What can we do, and while we're in the habit of throwing money to places where it will be useless, is there anywhere we can put money to actually help America? I say yes, but it has to be done in the correct manner. Giving money to people who refuse to work will just aggregate the problem. I think that education in America is important. This is a long-term plan, however. Teachers should be paid more and there should be more emphasis in school study programs outside of school. Forcing every student across the board to go at a slow pace to cater toward the lower-achievers in the class is not the answer but maybe there is economic sense in rewarding those who are high achievers (Look at Korea and India).
The US led the world in educational outcomes beginning in the 1960's. However, in 2006, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked America as 25 out of 30 industrialized countries in math and 24 in science. Studies between those ages 9-10 and 15 suggest that the closer they get to joining the labor force, the further they lag behind their international counterparts. If the United States had closed this gap and reached the level of Finland and Korea (top performers on this survey) by 1998, the US GDP could have been $1.3-2.3 Trillon higher in 2008. Some believe that this gap imposes a larger cost to the US economically than the current recession.
There is also a gap seen in the United States among students of different ethnic origins. Blacks and Hispanics score, on average, 2 to 3 years behind their white counterparts of the same age on the same tests, which no matter how it is measured is still there. If the gap had been closed by 1998, the US GDP in 2008 would have been $525 billion higher than it was. If this issue is continually ignored, the magnitude of this issue will grow as blacks and Hispanics will begin to account for a larger percentage of the US population. Perhaps this is a result of societal pressures. Asians have also been discriminated against in American culture through the 19th and 20th century, yet they rank high on these tests and are continually left from the "minority" reports on all achievement levels. Perhaps this is because their heritage, culture, and families value high achievers.
Another achievement gap persists between students at different income levels (both between the income gap in the school system and the income gap of the students home). If this achievement gap between the economic level of the students had been bridged by 1998, in 2008 the US GDP may have been as much as $670 billion more than it was. If the gap between low and high achieving states had been closed the US GDP would have been $700 billion greater in 2008.
Students in Texas are on average, 1 to 2 years ahead of Californian students of the same age, even though Texas has a lower per capita income and spends less per pupil than California. The cause of this should be studied more so we can do smart spending instead of throwing money at a problem and hoping it goes away.
*Note: It's not about just "bridging" the gap, it's about bringing the low performers up to the standards of the high performers. If we are all low performers, the disparity in the GDP would be much greater.
Currently, the tax for schools in Texas is not taxed across those who live in apartments. Only those who own houses. This is becoming a large problem for Cy-Fair ISD, now the 3rd largest school district in Texas. Last year the school district had to cut 450 positions and is looking at cutting 75 more. The taxes are rising on those with houses in order to service the number of lower income students now enrolled in the district. The class sizes are increasing in middle school and high school, making the student to teacher ratio greater. In other words, the quality of education is sinking, so perhaps in a decades time we can expect a larger number of people from this district to be adding the US's economic disparity.
Article on Cy-Fair's Woes: Houston Chronicle, "Cy Fair tries to keep best of both worlds"
Article on economic vs. education disparity of America is located in McKinsey Quarterly: Social Sector Office, June 2009 Issue; by Byron G. Auguste, Bryan Hancock, and Martha Laboissière
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