Graphics by Kiss Me I'm Polish
More Money, More Problems?
Alaska, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia spend more money per pupil, on a regionally adjusted scale, than almost any other state, yet they get D's or F's in achievement. Seventy percent of the District's students are poor, a factor that drives up its costs, whereas Alaska and Wyoming both struggle to distribute resources to a relatively small number of students spread across vast and isolating geography.
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The Case of New Mexico
In 2011, researchers at the Center for American Progress calculated educational return on educational investment (ROI), district by district. They found wide variation within states, both in terms of money spent and results obtained.New Mexico’s suburban Rio Rancho district has the best ROI in the state, spending just $6,658 per pupil for an achievement score of 61, which cap calculated on a scale of 1 to 100. Just two districts away, rural Jemez Mountain had the worst ROI, spending $13,983 per pupil for an achievement score of 25.
Students in the Roswell and Silver City districts—both small, remote, and majority Hispanic—achieved at similar levels. Yet Roswell, despite having 81 percent low-income students compared with Silver City’s 51 percent, spent $2,589 less per pupil.
Rebirth on the Bayou
After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana transferred most New Orleans schools to the authority of the state-run Recovery School District. With the teachers union effectively obsolete, reform has flourished—about 80 percent of New Orleans students now attend charter schools, the highest proportion in the U.S.—and the city’s historically rock-bottom test scores have shot up.
Cities Bounce Back
City schools—dogged by poverty and overcrowding—have traditionally lagged behind schools in other parts of the country. Achievement in most American cities still trails the national average, but in recent years, urban districts have seen significantly more improvement.
Atlanta’s reading gains and Boston’s math gains may be partly attributed to decade-long initiatives in literacy and math, respectively. Boston’s program may also have helped narrow its achievement gap: in 2011, the district’s black, Hispanic, and poor students all outperformed their national peers in math.
By the Numbers
How far we've fallen behind the rest of the world—and the economic benefits of catching up
Top-Ranked Countries
According to the Program for International Student Assessment, 2009
Top-Level Science Scores
Only 1% of American 4th- and 12th-graders scored at the Advanced level on national science exams in 2009.
Engineering Degrees
as a percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in 2008:
More Teaching Is Not Always Better
Average number of hours teachers instruct students:
America Values Teachers Less Than Other Countries Do
Average salary for teachers with 15 years of experience:
A McKinsey study predicts that if teacher salaries began at $65,000 and maxed out at $150,000, the number of high-achieving college grads who would consider teaching would increase by 54%.
How School Improvements Could Jump-Start the Economy
If the math proficiency of U.S. students improved to match that of Korean students, our annual growth rate would increase by 1.3%. The resulting increase in GDP over 80 years would be $75 trillion (nearly five times the current GDP).