One. Trillion. Dollars
Cue the Austin Powers meme
NCES reported this week that, “The 50 states and the District of Columbia reported $1.04 trillion in revenues collected for public elementary and secondary education in FY 24.”
This is revenues, not expenditures. And it doesn’t back out current expenditures versus debt service. Still, it’s a big, symbolic figure.
The Edunomics Lab team has more about how we got here and how the numbers vary across the states.
One more thing I’ll note: Benefit costs, including health care and retirement costs, now add up to $201.7 billion a year. That means benefits are eating up more than 30% of what public schools spend on annual personnel costs. I don’t think this is a great use of resources, and teachers would be much better off if they got more of their compensation in the form of salaries rather than in-kind benefits.
Reading List
Sarah Schwartz: Are high school graduates ready for college math?
Good Reason Houston: More students are meeting college- and career-ready benchmarks through lower-rigor pathways
Jo Napolitano: Maryland District Sheds Remedial High School Math Courses, Sees Students Soar
Erica Meltzer: Curriculum misalignment may cause students to become “intervention lifers”
Emily Tate Sullivan: Kids in State-Funded Preschools Hit Record High
Kearney and Levine: “The decline in fertility is… broad-based, with strikingly similar trends across women with and without a college degree.”
Derek Thompson: If America Is So Rich, Why Are Americans So Sad?
Benefits costs are outrageous, and for-profit insurance has destroyed our medical system in the US. However, I'm not certain teachers would be better off with reduced benefits. As a superintendent, I could purchase insurance for an employee at a lower monthly cost than if they were on their own in the marketplace, because we could leverage consortium numbers to negotiate with the insurer. In my state, these benefits still figure into the pension calculation, so there is no loss on the back end.
And the thrust of the linked article is flawed. Sure, pensions don't serve those who have short- or medium-termed stints in education. Teaching is a skill that takes years to refine. We shouldn't encourage folks to leave while they are still learning or just got good at the job. Defined benefit pensions reward longevity. We have a critical teacher shortage. We need to encourage teachers to stick with it.
The "deal" with US public service is lower total compensation and fewer growth opportunities, but better benefits/retirement and more job security. If we made teacher health insurance less generous (and it's definitely more generous than most private sector employers), we would probably have to raise salaries by more than the savings to keep the same workforce. Same is true for retirement.