Losing An Edge

Summer vacation gives educators a chance to study education, this time with some depressing results. The Department of Education reports that among adults 25 to 64, the U.S. still boasts the highest percentage of high school graduates: 82% of Americans, vs. 79% of the Swiss, 78% of Germans and 70% of the Japanese. But the researchers found to their alarm that among younger adults, 25 to 34, the graduation rate is 91% in Germany and Japan, 88% in Switzerland and 87% in the U.S. The study also noted a 2.5% overall drop in expenditures on education in the U.S. federal budget between 1980 and 1991. Federal spending for elementary and high schools fell 7% during that period, while spending on higher-education programs plummeted 24%.

The National Education Association delivered more bad news about American public schools in a study showing that, while 33% of students belong to minority groups, that holds true for only 12% of the nation's teachers: 8% of them are black, 3% are Hispanic and 1% are Asian. The NEA also found that only 28% of teachers are men -- the lowest percentage in more than 30 years. Bob Chase, NEA vice president, termed the findings "disheartening. Students learn lessons about life both through formal instruction and what they see around them. We need more male elementary school teachers and more people of color at all grade levels." Statistically speaking, the survey notes, the average public school teacher is a 42-year-old white married woman earning $31,790 a year.

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CREDIT: [TMFONT 1 d #666666 d {Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, OECD}]CAPTION: 1 NO MORE

% of 1989 population who completed high school