Good things are happening! Public schools are getting a boost for the first time in two decades. What’s more, the government’s free-file tax program is more successful than expected, a first-of-its-kind bill would let electric vehicles help all of us, and a pharmaceutical company faces scrutiny over shady dealings around a blockbuster weight-loss drug.
Investment Spikes In Public Schools
An increasing amount of money is being invested into the future through education. The U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that the average amount spent on public elementary and secondary school students rose 8.9 percent in 2022 — the largest year-to-year increase in two decades.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit focused on federal and state regulations, found that 34 of the 48 states it analyzed had imposed deep and widespread cuts for K-12 education since the Great Recession in 2008. A 2019 study by the National Education Association, a public education advocacy group, shows that teacher salaries, when adjusted for inflation, decreased by 4.5 percent over the last decade, contributing to a nationwide teacher shortage.
Research by the nonpartisan think tank the Economic Policy Institute shows that lower investment in schools not only contributes to poorer academic performance, it also leads to wider achievement gaps between affluent and less-affluent districts.
