Public Education

• Public education is commonwealth.

Everybody benefits from a well educated public. Our K-12 education system is neither common nor wealthy.

• Knowledge increases exponentially.

"Buckminster Fuller is the author of the 'Knowledge Doubling Curve.'

His research revealed that human knowledge doubled every century up to around 1900. The end of World War II reduced that time frame to every 25 years.

As you might imagine some parts of our knowledge advance faster than others. Some technical advances are doubling every two years while advances in clinical knowledge doubles every 18 months."

• A twelfth grade education has been the American norm since 1892.

It’s a little known fact that when it comes to the funding of our schools, the U.S. Government contributes about 10 cents to every dollar spent on K-12 education – less than the majority of countries in the world. And it wasn’t until 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of his War on Poverty, that the federal government created a lasting program to fund K-12 education. So where does the bulk of the money for our 14,000 public elementary and secondary school districts schools come from? State and local governments. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures. What’s the source of these funds? In most states, it’s sales and income taxes (both corporate and personal). But on a local level, these funds usually come from property taxes, which are set by the school board, local officials or citizens. It’s this system that causes the most dramatic differences between states, and even within districts. Depending on the property wealth of a community, its schools might boast gleaming buildings and equipment, or they might be dilapidated – struggling with the burden of outdated equipment and unpaid bills.

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• Problem(s)

• Inequitable standards
• Inequitable funding
• Out of Date

US Public education has not grown to cover the basics of modern knowledge nor the exponentially growing influence of mass media on culture, technology, politics, and more. K-12 no longer prepares fledgling citizens for basic entry-level jobs. Even a four year college education is inadequate preparation for many vocations.

• A Solution

We need free public education up to sixteen years with fourteen years mandatory.

As national commonwealth, these post secondary years must be funded through Federal means, not local.