The Great and Mighty Nobody: September 2020

This post contains many of those confounding symbols called “numbers”. Not only will it contain these “numbers”, but it will also rely on a form of the dark arts often referred to as “mathematics”. Be that as it may, one must not go forward with fear in their mind nor their heart. This “mathematics”, as applied to these “numbers”, combined with those other pesky things called ‘words’, will demonstrate some very useful information. I only mention it, for I do not want to be accused of duping people to enter a statistical haunted house unwittingly.🙂

For those of my readers who live in NY, I’m sure you’ve heard about the rampant elimination of educational positions across the state. Just a few days ago, the Schenectady City School District made their second round of layoffs this calendar year, nixing 338 positions (107 teachers and 231 support staff) in this go, with possibly more coming down the pipe.1 The Albany City School district, which cut 143 positions in May2, believes it may have to give another 222 employees pink slips sometime soon.3 Though these are two large city school districts in upstate NY, these cuts are occurring across the state, in districts large and small, rural and urban, as well as across the whole of the United States.

I wish I could find an adjective to describe how I feel about all of this, but I’m at a loss. Disappointing, dispiriting, maddening, baffling...are a few that cover the basics, yet I feel they lack the severity to convey the magnitude of my feelings. However, many people are speaking out about the considerable outrage brought on by these cuts, so I want to focus on a different aspect of this situation: funding for education.

For the most part, education in each state is funded in three ways: federally, through the state itself, and locally.4 For instance, using the 2017 Annual Survey of School System Finances, public schools were financed (on average) with the following percentages: federal - 8.7, state 50.2, and local 41.1. (The percentages for each state varies, so if you’re interested in your specific state, or want to know where my numbers came from, check here.5) Am I the only one astounded that the federal government provides so little? People in NY are railing against the governor and state legislature right now, and rightfully so, but I think it’s crucial to understand how few of our federal tax dollars are being used to educate the American public.

Now, one could argue, surely the federal government would spend more on education if they could. I mean, let’s be honest, they can only distribute as much money as has been allocated for that purpose. And I might reply, “that, my friend, is a valid point.” Nevertheless, maybe we should take a look at where our federal tax dollars are going. Below is a chart outlining the monies allocated for each federal agency from 2017 to 2019 (the red highlighting is mine). The 2017 numbers are actual figures, the 2018 are estimates, and the 2019 are requested amounts. As you can see, the Department of Education receives quite the sum of cash ($60 billion), and yet, compared to the Department of Defense ($597 billion), it is a pittance. Not only that, over the last three years or so, the amount directed toward the defense budget has been on the increase, whereas the amount allotted for education has shrunk.

See # below for link. There is a bit cut off the bottom of this chart, so if you are interested in *** or ****, you will find the entire image there.

Not only do we see the oppositional trends of spending on defense and education, the Dept of Defense receives 10 times the funding of the Dept of Education. Are you kidding me!?! Now look, I wasn’t so naive as to be oblivious of the fact that the US was spending more on the military than it was on our schools, but I had no idea it was tenfold. Can you imagine what could be accomplished if we took $100 billion dollars from the defense budget and spent it on our nation’s children? A 16.7% drop for the defense department would be a 166.7% increase for the education department. That’s pretty astounding!

Understand, this is not a “let’s get rid of the military” commentary. My father was a Marine, I have friends and family who have or are currently serving, and I appreciate the service of any individual brave enough to do what they do, and yet, I can’t help but think that investing $100 billion less on the military and spending it on our children would be a good thing. But what do I know? On top of that, can someone explain to me why is it a political liability to vote against an increase in defense spending but not an increase in education spending? Does that not seem ludicrous? Just sayin’s all.

So, if this isn’t an anti-military commentary, why am I focusing solely on the defense budget? Because it’s the only figure in the chart shouting at me that something is amiss. Personally, it's mind-boggling to me how we (or should I say, our elected representatives) think investment in our military is ten times more important than investment in our children. (And not only our children, but the people who teach and support our children along the way.) Additionally, “the US spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined”6 and trillions of dollars have gone unaccounted for over several decades.7 Ponder the previous sentence for a moment...TRILLIONS of dollars have been spent somewhere, but nobody can confirm where or how. That’s not to say it wasn’t spent on essentials, on the other hand, when expended funds can’t be accounted for, it strikes me as a bit fishy. Yet, I digress. The point I’m trying to make here is that maybe we should not hand as much money to the Defense Department as we do if they cannot keep track of it. Maybe we dole it out to other areas such as, I don’t know, education? (I wish I had the time to delve into the lack of oversight across the spectrum of government agencies. Perhaps sometime in the future, but it is a topic you should most definitely think about from time to time. For a recent example, look no further than the fiasco of the PPP loan program.8)

Let me now return to my own state: New York. New York is currently facing a fiscal crisis. Due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, NY has had to cut spending by $4 billion dollars. What does this mean for schools? In essence, each district will receive 20% less aid than originally expected.9 No wonder schools all over the state are giving teachers and support staff the boot. I’m not arguing it should be happening, yet what is a district to do if all of a sudden they’re receiving many millions of dollars less in funding than budgeted for? Look, I’m one of the people who fell victim to these changes, and yet, I understand it from a financial standpoint. (Allow me a brief moment of selfish spite to confess something - I believe my school was itching to find a legitimate reason to send my colleague and I packing. Sorry, I just needed to get that off of my chest.)

That being said, though I understand the need for revising the budget, surely our schools deserve to fall under a different “category” than other businesses and organizations. I’m not denigrating ‘other businesses and organizations’ but every once in a while, one must set priorities. Honestly, consider what students have lost and will lose by doing virtual learning or a hybrid of virtual and in-person instruction. Now we’re going to provide them with less teachers and support staff as well?

Even if you agree, you might ask, where would the state find the money needed to provide more assistance to the schools? The thing that jumps to the front of my mind concerns the lottery. In 1967, when New York began floating the idea of a state lottery, it was marketed to the public as a way to fund schools. In fact, the original slogan was “Your Chance of a Lifetime to Help Education”.10 Since 1967, almost $70 billion dollars has gone to schools and last year alone it was over $3.4 billion.11 Those amounts are not insignificant; on a yearly basis, about one-third of the overall proceeds goes toward education.10 I admit, when I started looking into it, I was happily surprised by that number. Here’s the thing - it could be more. Below is the breakdown of where the lottery proceeds went in 2017:12

Looking at the figures, if you change the prize and retail commission percentages to 50 and 5, respectively, that alone would open up nearly a billion dollars that could be shifted to educational aid. Currently, there is proposed legislation to do something similar (or possibly more).13 It may not make up the sum total that every school in the state is losing, but it certainly would soften the blow.

Why is all of this important? Why should we be aware of how this particular institution is funded? For the most part, I wanted to make people aware of how little our government is providing for the education of our children. In 2017, there were 76.4 million school age children in the United States.14 If you take the $60 billion provided by the US government and divide by the number of students, that is $785 per individual. Less than $1000 dollars per student to provide teachers, administrators, support staff, food, transportation, tuition aid (for college age students), etc. And that is not a comprehensive list, it’s just a few of the things I plucked off the top of my head. Crikey! $1000! That’s an insanely small number. For everyone who likes to complain about school taxes, imagine how much less you would have to pay if your federal tax dollars were being proportioned out differently.

(Again, that $785 is just what the federal government is pitching in per student. Overall, we spend an average of $12,331 per student in the US, but the rest comes from state and/or local resources. Although, I also want to point out, the amount spent per pupil varies widely from state to state. In fact, NY tops the list at $23, 091 per student.15)

Okay, I suppose it’s time for me to wrap this up. There is so much more I would like to say, but one must pace oneself. So let me leave you with a couple of reasons why we need to start making a larger investment in the schooling of our nation’s youth.

Education is good for the economy. According to Eric A. Hanushek of Stanford University and Ludger Woessmann and Jens Ruhose of the University of Munich, “if all students in the U.S. could be brought up to basic mastery as defined by [the National Assessment of Educational Assessment standards], the U.S. GDP would increase by $32 trillion, or 14.6 percent.”16 Hence, we should be spending more on education because, in the long run, it’s an investment in our economy.
Education is good for society. Increased educational levels are associated with a decrease in crime rates17, lower unemployment18, and can lead to social cohesion19.
Education is good for health reasons. People with higher levels of education are less likely to experience physical and mental health issues.20
Education leads to a wider range of opportunities.

And isn’t that what we, as parents, teachers, community members, or just everyday adults want for our children? Don’t you want them to have more opportunities for success? To help make our nation a better one? To create a place where everybody is valued and has a chance to live a fulfilling life? Or am I just spouting my unreasonable idealism again?

So what must we do? As a society, we need to continue the push to emphasize the importance of our schools. They provide so many functions apart from learning - child care, nutrition, physical activity, socialization - to name a few. As individuals, we must ask our elected representatives to move the investment in our children higher on their priority lists. And after all of this, if you won’t take my word for it, take the word of the late Whitney Houston.

I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be