A Public Education Primer

Although these statistics held few surprises, they were very useful in presenting an overall picture of the state of public education, who controls the purse-strings and where the biases lie.


A few things that I didn't know ---

* over 90% of funding for public education comes from state and local sources
(We don't have to strain our brains to guess where all that federal money IS going....)

*Less than 5% of our Gross Domestic Product is devoted to public education
(Definitely not something to brag about if you ask me!)

*That over 46% of teachers drop out, burn out or switch careers in the first five years! (Low pay? Tough students? Weak teachers? The study doesn't give the reasons for this phenomenon, but I would be interested to see any more detailed studies on "teacher burnout"). Although definitely not a good thing, this does mean that there will be additional employment opportunities for those entering the profession to fill the gap.



The most mind-boggling tidbit --

* Did you know that Camden, New Jersey spends more money per student than any other district in the state? Unless this is an error, the explanation may lie in the footnote that claims that the this may be due to the greatest number of low-income students enrolled resulting in the most federal assistance being given out.( I haven't visited any public schools in Camden, but I wonder if it would be apparent where all this extra money is going). The district with the lowest expenditure per student is Brick Township, NJ.



Of the most personal interest --

Were the statistics about immigration and the direction it is taking.
(Did you know that 1 in 10 public school students is an English language learner, and that there has been a 65% increase in English language learners between 1993 and 2004?)
This is personally significant to be since when I decided to pursue a degree/certification in art education, others already in the teaching field, intimated to me that perhaps it is not the easiest area in which to find employment. Therefore, following a vague hunch, I decided early on that I would pursue an additional certification in TESL (teaching english as a second language) and these statistics seem to confirm the notion that that this is a hot (aka "in demand") area for future teachers. It is my hope that this additional certification will make me a "value added" prospect and provide more opportunity and flexibility for future employment.


Conclusions:

While opinions may vary about the reasons for deficits in our public education system, where the faults lie and on what course of future action should be taken, statistics paint a somewhat clearer picture of the current situation that new teachers are facing, and being forewarned can help one to be forearmed and prepared. Going into a new situation with "eyes wide open" ie: realistic expectations, may help to lessen the new teacher burnout rate that is apparently a huge problem in our schools today.