The Martian Education Association: A Profile of US Public Education

American schools are public or private and divided up as elementary or secondary based upon the child’s age. Eighty eight percent of the nation’s 55 million students attend public school while the other twelve percent attend private school. Not all public schools are created equal, though in theory they should be. Seventeen percent of public school students attend “schools of choice.” This means students can attend public schools chosen by their parents instead of their assigned neighborhood school. Three percent attend magnet schools which have specialized curricula set up to attract students of different ethnic backgrounds. About two percent attend charter schools which are publicly funded schools governed by a group under a contract which exempts them from certain government rules. The U.S. public education system has over 14,000 self-governing school systems. Of the biggest school districts, the top two percent enroll one third of all students. Educational policies are mainly set by state legislatures, State Boards of Education, or at the local level. The policies generally set by the state are: testing and graduation requirements, specific curriculum content, teacher preparation requirements, teacher certification & licensing requirements, promotion and retention policy, years of compulsory schooling, age requirements, length of school year, kindergarten as a requirement, and school district accountability & student performance. Policies usually set at the local level include: the specific curricula’s content, specific performance standards, student truancy & discipline, promotion & detainment of specific students, textbooks used, hiring of teachers, teacher salaries & job requirements, school schedule, attendance zones, class sizes, and grade configurations. Essential aspects vary from state to state but there are general similarities such as children must attend school for 9-13 years for 173 to 186 days a year. In addition to mathematics, reading, writing, science, etc., there is a multitude of service provided by public education. There are school nurses, counselors, psychologists, social workers, speech therapists, medical health care services, prekindergarten programs, extended before/after school daycare, and federal school lunch programs. The federal government only funds nine percent of education while the other ninety percent comes from state and local sources. The federal role in education has grown because of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which took effect in 2002. The Act requires school districts meet performance goals on annual tests for all students grades 3-8 and once in high school. But the United States still has no national curriculum and no national exit exam. Some states have high school exit exams. Statistics can be quite misleading. It must be said that although more than half of all public school students are white, over half of the nation’s black and Latino students attend public schools where three quarters of the students are children of color. This is because more public school students attend schools in non-urban areas. Currently, four out of ten public school students are children of color and this number is projected to increase. Children of color are the majority in six states’ public school enrollments, a majority in two-thirds of the nation’s largest school districts, and over ninety percent of the nation’s largest districts enrollments. Low income families are those whose income is below the federal poverty level. Low income families make up over one third of public school students. Ten percent of public school students are ESL (English as a second language) students. Fourteen percent of students receive special education services because they’re disabled. In 2003-2004, three fourths of these students were educated in a regular classroom. NCLB mandates that districts are required to monitor achievement gaps amongst different groups of students. It also requires all English language learners and disabled students take the same subject areas tests and meet the same achievement goals of other students. Children begin attending school between the ages 5-8 and end school between ages 16-18 depending upon state and local regulations. Teachers are required to be licensed and certified according to state standards. NCLB requires all academic teachers demonstrate their high qualification by having a degree in their subject or meeting criteria of subject matter competence. Nearly half of public school educators have advanced degrees, while most have 10+ years experience. Many degrees held by middle & high school teachers are not in the subject they teach. Generally, low income minority high school students are taught by less experienced and out of field teachers. Public school teachers don’t match student population diversity; nine out of ten teachers are white, and close to eight of ten are female. The number of black educators has declined since 1971 while the number of male teachers has declined since 1961. The main reason for teacher shortages is the high turn around rate of teachers. Most new teachers can’t make the grade and either change schools or leave the profession. These rates are worse off in high poverty schools.

*** All the information here is from CEP's A Public Education Primer.