HOW MANY STUDENTS ARE THERE?
The National Center for Education Statistics estimated that in 2013, 50.1 million children will be enrolled in U.S. public schools and 5.2 million will be in private school. That doesn’t include students who are home-schooled. The Education Department’s statistics arm also estimated there were 1.5 million U.S. students home-schooled in 2007; advocates of home schooling advocates put the number higher.
WHO’S TEACHING THEM?
There are about 3.3 million elementary and secondary public teachers in 2013, leading to a student teacher ratio of 15-to-1, NCES said. The average teacher in a public school earned about $56,000 for the school year that ended in 2011, according to the agency. When adjusted for inflation, that salary is only 3 percent higher than it was for the year that ended in the spring of 1991.
WHAT ABOUT SPENDING ON KIDS?
Teacher salaries are just part of the total spent on educating children. All told, NCES says $591 billion will be spent during the new school year. That breaks down to an average $11,810 for each student.
WHAT ARE STUDENTS BEING TAUGHT?
The buzz word these days is Common Core. The Common Core State Standards establish benchmarks for student learning in math and reading. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards, which critics decry as tantamount to a national curriculum. Supporters counter that the standards are necessary to ensure that high school graduates are ready for college or career.
DRESSED AND EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS
In some households, it is a tradition that children get a new outfit for that first day of school. But the cost is just a fraction of what parents pay to get their children ready for school. The National Retail Federation estimated that a family’s back-to-school spending for elementary and secondary school in 2013 would average about $634.78. In addition to clothing, supplies and electronics add to the total. That’s down more than $50 from the previous year.
HOW SAFE IS MY STUDENT?
Last December’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., brought questions about school security to the forefront. More than 1.2 million students between ages 12 and 18 were victims of crimes at school in 2011, according to NCES and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Of those, nearly half were violent crimes and 648,600 involved thefts, the agencies said.
Among students ages 5 to 18, there were 11 homicides and three suicides at school from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.
To read full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/31/education-in-america_n_3849110.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices&ir=Latino%20Voices
WHO’S TEACHING THEM?
There are about 3.3 million elementary and secondary public teachers in 2013, leading to a student teacher ratio of 15-to-1, NCES said. The average teacher in a public school earned about $56,000 for the school year that ended in 2011, according to the agency. When adjusted for inflation, that salary is only 3 percent higher than it was for the year that ended in the spring of 1991.
WHAT ABOUT SPENDING ON KIDS?
Teacher salaries are just part of the total spent on educating children. All told, NCES says $591 billion will be spent during the new school year. That breaks down to an average $11,810 for each student.
WHAT ARE STUDENTS BEING TAUGHT?
The buzz word these days is Common Core. The Common Core State Standards establish benchmarks for student learning in math and reading. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted the standards, which critics decry as tantamount to a national curriculum. Supporters counter that the standards are necessary to ensure that high school graduates are ready for college or career.
DRESSED AND EQUIPPED FOR SUCCESS
In some households, it is a tradition that children get a new outfit for that first day of school. But the cost is just a fraction of what parents pay to get their children ready for school. The National Retail Federation estimated that a family’s back-to-school spending for elementary and secondary school in 2013 would average about $634.78. In addition to clothing, supplies and electronics add to the total. That’s down more than $50 from the previous year.
HOW SAFE IS MY STUDENT?
Last December’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., brought questions about school security to the forefront. More than 1.2 million students between ages 12 and 18 were victims of crimes at school in 2011, according to NCES and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Of those, nearly half were violent crimes and 648,600 involved thefts, the agencies said.
Among students ages 5 to 18, there were 11 homicides and three suicides at school from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.
To read full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/31/education-in-america_n_3849110.html?utm_hp_ref=latino-voices&ir=Latino%20Voices