Across the planet, every nation has some standard of education. Every place varies in one way or another, but every country agrees that it is important enough to be mandatory for children. That is true. Without a basic education for it's populace, a country could not function. But how much money a nation pours into education, and the requirements to graduate, varies greatly depending on where you look. In some nations, like France, the Federal government pours almost $100 Billion (USD) into education. Other nations, such as India, contribute just over $9 Billion (USD) to their education system. And The US? Well, we fall somewhere in the middle, with approximately $70 Billion. By many standards, that's not a small amount. But, when you consider that the US has about 5 times as many people living here, that number makes less of an impact.
Consider this. In the United States, educational budgets have become stagnant in recent years, yet costs have risen. This means that more and more districts are in the red, and are having to make drastic cuts to their budget, or forgo purchasing up to date equipment or books. Many school districts are using older editions of books that have changed greatly in recent years, especially in the realm of science. This is causing our country to fall behind others in the science and technology sectors, which are the fastest growing sectors on the planet. And what do we do about it?
Recently, President Obama recently proposed a huge stimulus package to jump start the economy. It would have given boosts to businesses who created new jobs, lessened the tax burdeon on many Americans, not just the rich, and it would have given almost $70 Billion to the education system. But do you think it could pass the first time around? Of course not. And what was cut? The education budget of course. As one republican opponent said, “I love schools; I love children,” but continues to state that education boosts “don’t belong in this bill.” Really? Because I tend to disagree. The only way this economy can rebound is to bring some of those high-paying tech jobs back to the United States from overseas. And, without an adequately funded education system, we have no hope of acheiving that.
Throwing schools out the window
By Nicholas KristofSo this is what the Senate seems to be coming down to: keeping bridges and throwing students out the window. The effort to prune the stimulus package to make it more palatable to Republicans is focused on slashing money for education.
The proposed cuts, by various accounts, include $40 billion to help states (in large part with education budgets), possibly $14 billion for Pell grants, and $14 billion for other education programs (though late word from the Washington Post is that the Pell grants may have survived). The argument is that these would be ongoing programs, not a short-term stimulus, and conservatives are very wary of expanding education programs in ways that will increase the federal presence in the education space or the burden on taxpayers. They particularly don’t want Headstart and school construction in the stimulus. Mel Martinez says: “I love schools; I love children,” but he adds that such measures “don’t belong in this bill.”
He’s wrong, for a couple of reasons. First, the priority has to be to get the stimulus passed, and it’s better to err on the side of a big stimulus than a small one. I lived in Japan from 1995 through 1999 and saw how crucial it is for a government to act decisively – and, rather like Colin Powell’s doctrine of “overwhelming force” – with real power in confronting an economic crisis. Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke and Larry Summers were all close students at the time of Japan’s mess, and that’s why they’re all determined to get enough of a stimulus and avoid a lost decade. And constructing schools or paying Headstart teachers delivers just as much economic stimulus as a new bridge or road; indeed, the economic multiplier effect is probably greater in low-income communities than in America as a whole.
Second, I’m increasingly of the view that our nation’s top priority — which I used to think was a national health care system — must be revitalizing our education system. The good suburban schools are great, and do just as well as Singapore’s or Hong Kong’s. But our inner city schools are a disaster, and they fail the students and our country’s economic future.
My thinking shifted partly after reading The Race Between Education and Technology, by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz, one of last year’s most important books. As I wrote at the time, they argue that the central reason America became the most important economy in the world was its emphasis on broad education, at a time when Europe educated only the elites. Yet that edge has disappeared, and America is the only country today where parents are more likely to graduate from high school than their children. If we want to maintain America’s economic greatness, then we need roads and bridges, yes, but we also need a more educated work force.
Come on, senators, education is the best way to fight poverty, the best way to break the cycle of the underclass, the best way to ensure a broader distribution of opportunity in America, the best way to preserve our country’s economic competitiveness. And it’s just as good for stimulus purposes as repaving a road — and you still want to throw those school children out the window?
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