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It's clear no one solution is the unicorn of the challenges faced by America's schools to effectively instruct and ensure equity among students -- each approach has its own advantages and issues, which sometimes might just be lack of funds.

This is why public charter schools, at least in urban areas, seem promising.  Autonomy plays a roll in the school's ability to be creative in curriculum and pedogogical approach, but in the same regard the schools seem to have a greater accountability -- both to the government that backs the charter, and within by not being hindered by the teachers union.

Funding is a concern though, as the result should never really come at the cost of a degraded experience in the traditional public school system because funding is reduced when students leave.  At the same time, schools should be treated like a business -- given a budget and expected to produce results.  With a charter school, a charter can be revoked, but forcing change in a larger traditional public school backed by the teachers union is a different animal.

Students deserve the best education, and ultimately that should be done through a traditional public school. To that end the school should be well-funded so class sizes are small enough to provide enough one-on-one attention, giving teachers aides in instances where class sizes are larger, as well as all the technology needs the students require. Providing that's done, the school and teachers should be held to account -- no exceptions. If the school cannot modify it's teaching approach so students are successfully scoring high grades in class (and on revised/fairer standardized tests) then parents should have the ability to leverage an alternate option -- the ideal charter school.

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Keep the learning environment free from distraction, without a zero-tolerance policy.  Counselors have the ability to creatively address behavioral situations - leverage them!

Responsibility for an environment conducive to learning is shared.  If an environment is disruptive teachers can't teach and students can't learn.  The school's policy would require respect in the classroom with any students causing disruption to on-site counseling staff.  If the disruption is caused by reasons outside of class the counselors would be empowered to share resources with the student.  If the disruption is caused by reasons within the classroom, the counselors would act as neutral parties to help reconcile any conflict.  Only after repeated visits to counseling would a disruptive student be subject to suspension.  Schools also must be safe.  If the level of actions called for it, law enforcement could be called by administrative and counseling staff -- but there wouldn't be an on-site officer stationed at the school, it's important that calls to authorities are considered only after attempts to work through any student behavioral issues.

Counseling support beyond behavioral issues focus on applying to college and developing a path to get there (or an alternate trade school if that's the student's goal), and joining after school clubs and organizations to foster connections with fellow students.

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Suspending and expelling students from school and taking them through the juvenile and criminal justice system for minor infractions has created the school-to-prison pipeline. According to a U.S. Department of Justice complaint, officials in some schools give armed police the authority to stop, question, search, frisk, detain, and arrest students both on and off the school grounds.

Zero-tolerance practices are often used for nonviolent offenses and actions that are disruptive. They promote a one-size-fits-all punishment for many behaviors that has caused the school-to-prison pipeline to be crowded.

Zero-tolerance policies sound like a quick fix, but these policies criminalize minor infractions of school rules. Resource officers arrest students for behaviors that would be handled best by the school administration rather than a juvenile court judge.

Many students who commit minor infractions are children with histories of poverty, disabilities, abuse, neglect. Programs that would help them with additional educational and counseling services should be enacted, but instead, these children are punished, singled-out, and pushed out of the school system.

Teachers feel victimized by these students. The only punishments available to the teacher is to make threats, send the student to the principle, or contact the school's resource officer.

In 2010, more than 3 million kids were suspended from school. Additionally, a number of these students were referred to the resource officer.

One high school teacher in a local high school was dismayed that a student she sent down to the principal for discipline ended up suspended from school. This was his third time swearing under his breath, but is suspension the answer? Studies show that suspensions and expulsions do more harm than good to students.

Keeping at-risk kids in class and learning is difficult. Teachers are under pressure to meet accountability measures, yet teachers have a unique position to keep students out of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Teachers get to know the student and are vested in keeping the students in the classroom. It's difficult, but when teachers are trained to take a more responsive approach and forget the knee-jerk reactions, students are more than likely to stay in school and stop their behaviors.

The Problem With Suspension

Suspended students lack supervision during the day. Out on the streets, they do not benefit from positive peer interactions, adult mentorships or the teaching provided for them at school. Suspending students does not help students develop the skills and strategies they need to improve behavior and avoid future problems. Once a student is suspended, he/she is more likely to be expelled again, repeat a grade, drop out of school and become a part of the juvenile justice system.

Not too long ago, NEA Executive Committee member Kevin Gilbert talked to student who lived for 21 days in a juvenile detention center. All he did was talk back to the teacher. In 2013, a 7-year old was suspended for shaping his breakfast bar into a gun shape. Really? A Michigan senior was expelled for forgetting the pocketknife she had in her purse. How about the seven teenagers in North Carolina arrested and suspended for an end-of-the-year water balloon fight. What are educators thinking? Are we all so afraid to let kids be kids?

What is Changing?

Lawsuits and civil rights complaints against districts with zero-tolerance practices are being filed. These complaints have brought about an awareness that teachers need more support and training to enact effective discipline. The school needs the tools for behavior modification to keep kids in school and learning.

Recommendation for change demands a strategic action. The Department of Education and Department of Justice recently partnered to provide new tools for educators. In 2014, they jointly issued federal guidelines to advise schools on how to improve school discipline. The Guiding Principles - A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline was written and divided into three themes:

Create a favorable school climate that helps prevent and changes inappropriate behaviors. Train staff, engage families and the community, and find resources to aid students in developing the social, emotional and conflict resolution skills needed to de-escalate problems. Provide mentors, counselors and give students a way to address the underlying causes of their misbehavior.

Make sure there are appropriate and clear expectations and consequences in place to prevent misconduct. Hold students accountable for their behavior. Teach them responsibility, respect and form the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Relying on suspension and expulsion as a last resort and should only be used for severe infractions. Equip staff with strategies to address problem behaviors while keeping students engaged in learning.

Create ways to ensure fairness and equity for all students no matter their race or condition they are in. Continuously evaluate discipline policies and practices by using data and analysis.

How to Avoid The Pipeline

Schools and families have the power to divert students from the school to prison pipeline. It will take work and actions, but it can be done by taking several steps.

Recognize positive behavior.

Work with police departments and court systems to limit arrests at school.

Explain infractions and the prescribed punishments to the student body.

Train teachers on using positive behavior modification for at-risk students.

Use home and family interventions designed to create behavior modifications for both students and families.

It is important that the community supports schools with family intervention programs designed to take a student with behavior issues and help them at home, at school and in the community. One such program is Multisystemic Therapy (MST), a scientifically proven intervention for at-risk youth. MST therapists work with the child in their home, school and community. They are available 24/7 to the child and family. Multisystemic Therapy is intensive, and designed for families and communities to address the problems impacting at-risk children. The program works to empower parents to focus on their children in school and learning life skills.
For more related content, visit our Juvenile Justice Reform Resource page by clicking here.

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How Can We Stop The School-To-Prison Pipeline?

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Suspending and expelling students from school and taking them through the juvenile and criminal justice system for minor infractions has created the school-to-prison pipeline. According to a U.S. Department of Justice complaint, officials in some schools give armed police the authority to stop, question, search, frisk, detain, and arrest students both on and off the school grounds.

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Leverage after school hours to foster bonds between students and faculty.

One of the takeaways from Curtis Acosta's class was the need to give students a 'home' where they can learn about each other, but perhaps outside of a class is a better approach than incorporating life skills into class time.

Students come into the classroom from all backgrounds and challenges and don't necessarily have a support system at home.  Students may also not have developed enough confidence to share stories without feeling judged.  This is where the school has a unique opportunity.

Outside the school day, programs would be facilitated by staff and volunteers, inviting students from classes to join and learn more about various cultures and each other -- building bonds with each other and staff in the process, and helping foster a more effective learning experience once in the classroom.

These programs, when not part of the official curriculum, may also address some of the criticism expressed by parents who don't support curriculum beyond what they feel are the core subjects.

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It was 5:25 p.m. on a Friday when a group of about 25 kids from the Palo Alto Housing Corporation's Residential Services Program dashed up the basketball court at Palo Alto High School. A little boy volleyed an orange ball toward the basket. It hit the corner of the rim and rebounded into the kinetic frenzy of children below.

A whistle rang out in the court and Kate Young, the director of resident services at the Palo Alto Housing Corporation (PAHC), cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Alright guys, great job! Let's bring it in," she shouted.

A collective groan came out from the mass of players.

This is the PAHC's after-school club. For four days out of the week, kids who live at one of the nonprofit's below market rate housing complexes meet up in a study room and work diligently on their studies. On Fridays, they get to go to a special activity, which, for the beginning of the school year, has been a basketball program.

The after-school program received a $2,500 grant last April as part of the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund to help maintain free or low-cost activities in the program, helping to keep spots open to kids from all economic backgrounds in one of PAHC's complexes.

"We try to provide that support and those opportunities for these kids to grow, not just academically, but also to build skills like teamwork and communication, to be leaders and work in small teams," Young said. "In a variety of ways, we are giving kids extra opportunities to practice those skills. The more practice, the better."

To qualify for one of PAHC's properties, a family's income needs to be, at most, 60 percent of the area median, which is more than $120,000 in Palo Alto. Children growing up in families with lower incomes have been known to be at a higher risk for poor school performance, legal run-ins and a variety of other issues.

That's exactly the kind of path that Young and the parents said that they hope these programs will help the kids avoid. It's difficult to quantify the success of these opt-in programs, and PAHC doesn't keep track of the kids after they stop participating (there is no age limit, but kids tend to move on to another program by the time they turn 13), but Young said she has seen kids participate in the Resident Services programs for their entire public-education career and go on to four-year colleges and jobs that pay well.

Tamise Walker, whose daughter is in the program, said the program has helped her daughter build confidence and enthusiasm.

"She's reading more and she's really into trying new things," she said. "I also have an email from her teacher saying her writing has really improved. I think a lot of it is thanks to the enthusiasm she's building from all the sports and extra studying."

Confidence is something that Isis, Walker's daughter, certainly doesn't lack. In the basketball program, she was awarded the "Great Intensity" award, and she was one of the first to migrate from the beginner group to the advanced group. How did she do it?

"Well, it was just too easy," she boasted with a smile.

Her confidence didn't end on the court, either. At the two-hour homework time, the kids closed out the study session with a team-building exercise in which the group held different points along a 6-foot string. Everyone closed their eyes except for a leader, who directed the team verbally so that the string took on a square, triangle or a star.

When they asked for a leader, Isis' hand shot up in the air. For about five minutes, she then directed the group as they tangled themselves into something that resembled a five-pointed star. Everyone opened their eyes and broke into a discussion of what worked and what didn't in the attempt. Some of the girls began showing off their cartwheels, and the group eventually moved back into the clubhouse.

By having the homework club on the premises where they live, the kids can be in a safe place and grow more comfortable with their neighbors, explained Young.

"It's nice for parents to know where their kids are," she said.

Lorena De Anda said that she's glad her daughter, Jade, has a learning environment with peers who have become like family.

"She always wants to get out of the house because she's an only child," De Anda explained. "She's always excited to come to this because she has made some very close friends. Today I came and I saw her dancing with some of her friends, so I think she's very happy."

Jade had never played basketball before, but she quickly moved into the advanced group.

"At first, it was really scary. I kept failing over and over again, but it got a little easier each time. It was kind of like how Mario levels (in the video game) get harder and harder, but if you keep trying, it gets better," she explained.

Young has been leading youth programs with PAHC for 12 years, and that's exactly how she's been trying to build these kids up.

"We want to create an environment for learning and growth," she said. "We're really selective about our activities because we want them to build those life skills."

Donations to the Holiday Fund can be made here.

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After-school program builds kids' life skills

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Palo Alto Housing Corporation received a $2,500 grant last April as part of the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund to help maintain free or low-cost activities in the program, helping to keep spots open to kids from all economic backgrounds in one of PAHC's complexes.

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Leverage a non-union environment.

One of the major benefits of public charter schools is a greater ability to hold educators to account.  In the traditional teacher-union public schools we've seen in Waiting for Superman that while there is a process to rid a school of a teacher failing at his/her job, it can also be a lengthy process that when layered with tenure perhaps places too much of an administrative burden to replace teachers that public charter schools that aren't unionized don't have to deal with.  Students shouldn't have to wait a year for a failing teacher to be replaced.  Tenure, originally meant to protect professors at colleges and universities may today at the K-12 level be too broadly applied to benefit the students in the schools.

Given the inclusive pedagogical approach, instructors at the school would have to learn about social emotional learning, perhaps an opportunity for the instructors themselves to grow professional and personally.  If it's a new concept to any on the staff or faculty, consultants who specialize in the field would be leveraged.

Instructors would be evaluated by the class itself, much like colleges and universities which seek feedback from its students at the end of a course, and improvement of grades over the academic term.  Feedback from students would be reviewed with the instructor twice during the academic year -- at the conclusion of fall and spring semesters.  Student grades, with a focus on trend, would be reviewed with the instructor at the end of the academic year, at which point the instructor's position is renewed for another year or the instructor is released.

Accountability is high in the school, and results are critical, but so too is the support that instructors need while in class.  Each class would have a maximum of 20 students without also having an aide.  This additional support is crucial for there's also correlation between class size and student performance.

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It's designed to provide educators a level of job security few others enjoy, but the future of tenure is becoming less secure in Florida.

The state eliminated tenure for K-12 instructors in 2011; now it's becoming less common in the state's higher- education institutions as well. Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland and Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers don't offer it at all.

Last month, State College of Florida in Bradenton eliminated it for new hires. One trustee told faculty, "You earn your job just like the rest of us have to."

Supporters say tenure is needed to protect academic freedom, ensure due process of faculty and attract top talent to the state. Supporters say scholars need to feel safe to discuss controversial topics and conduct unpopular research without fear of outside pressure from politicians, donors and others.

But others argue tenure makes it too difficult to fire faculty members who are no longer effective or needed, and even sometimes those who have committed wrongdoing.

"No one else has a guaranteed job for life," said Ralph Rogers, provost at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, which doesn't offer tenure to most faculty. "Tenure is especially controversial when you use it to protect bad behavior and poor performance."

Tenure proponents deny that it provides a lifetime job, saying that faculty can be fired because of multiple bad evaluations or wrongdoing. Several faculty members say they've known tenured colleagues who have been fired or pressured to resign.

Controversial FAU professor James Tracy ignited a tenure battle when he alleged on his personal blog that the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., never happened. He theorized that the U.S. government staged the tragedy, using actors, to generate public support for gun control. He has made similar claims about nearly every national tragedy since.

Despite calls by members of the FAU Board of Trustees to fire Tracy, the administration at the time gave him only a reprimand, saying he failed to keep FAU out of his blog. The issue heated up again in December when the parents of one of the Sandy Hook victims accused Tracy of harassing them.

FAU fired him soon thereafter - not for any of the public controversies, but because he failed to turn in required ethics and conflict of interest forms.

Tracy opted not to use the appeals process at FAU to challenge the firing, but has hired an outside lawyer and is using a fundraising web page to help cover his legal costs. He has indicated he plans to fight FAU's decision.

FAU said it is working to add more accountability to its tenure process, a move officials say is unrelated to Tracy, but is not looking to get rid of it.

"If the entire country suddenly woke up and did away with tenure, so be it," said FAU Provost Gary Perry. "But for us to do it selectively, quite frankly, would disadvantage us in recruiting the very best faculty."
The issue is also creating controversy at Broward College. Faculty members issued a vote of no confidence against President David Armstrong and Provost Linda Howdyshell, alleging "an atmosphere of administrative and legislative attacks on tenure" and "disregard for academic freedom," among other complaints.

"Faculty members in South Florida don't make much money. With the cost of living down here, without job security, what faculty will want to come to South Florida?" asked tenured art professor Catherine Leisek.

Tenure has become a contentious issue at the bargaining table, faculty say, although college spokeswoman says "during the negotiations, the college has never proposed to eliminate" tenure, said Lesli Franco, director of communications at Broward College. College administrators have said they have been unfairly blamed for changes made by the state in the tenure laws for community colleges, which increased the number of years a faculty member must serve before receiving tenure from three to five.

Rogers, at NSU, expects more schools will likely end or amend tenure practices. He said he worked at one university with declining student enrollment in political science, but the school was unable to eliminate faculty members because they were tenured. He said even if a tenured professor is accused of criminal behavior, the appeals process can drag on for months. Oftentimes colleges will end up settling with a professor to avoid a public spectacle.

"People will hear their kids talking about a faculty member who doesn't keep office hours and rambles on in the classroom and they wonder why they just can't get rid of him," Rogers said. "You can't get rid of him because he has tenure."

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Tenure: a concept whose time has passed?

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It's designed to provide educators a level of job security few others enjoy, but the future of tenure is becoming less secure in Florida. The state eliminated tenure for K-12 instructors in 2011; now it's becoming less common in the state's higher- education institutions as well.

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Leverage both grades and standardized tests.

Standardized tests may be discriminatory in structure, and there is correlation between family income and overall test scores, but perhaps reworking them so advantages are removed is better than ridding the system of them totally -- example, tests can be made free, removing a wealthy family's advantage of being able to take the test multiple times, and upping the rigor of curriculum in our ideal school to be just as challenging as those in wealthy communities.

No one is disputing the value GPAs have in evaluating a student's potential.  And students with high GPAs have demonstrated they can test well in courses.  But until all colleges go test-optional schools are potentially doing students a disservice by not preparing them for it.

Standardized tests in later years of high school may indicate a student's performance ability but throughout grade school they can show where a school needs to improve and perhaps best allow an apples-to-apples comparison when tests are consistent across a state.

All said, any continuation of reworked standardized tests would depend on an objective/external assessment of neutrality.

Assessments tied to teaching effectiveness are covered in the Educators post, but connects a teacher's effectiveness to the grades of his/her students, as well as feedback that's provided by the students themselves.  At the end of each academic year results are reviewed with instructors, and if positive, are offered the position for the next academic year.

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Rich students get better SAT scores—here’s why

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Researchers have repeatedly found that wealthy students enjoy significant advantages throughout the college application process, and that income greatly impacts a student’s performance on standardized tests.

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A focus on core subjects and an inclusive pedagogical approach.

Psychological health is a critical learning component, and the lived experience outside the classroom is brought into the classroom.   A healthy environment such as the school's would leverage social-emotional concepts, allowing the faculty opportunity to connect with the students they're trying to teach.  It's unclear based on all we've seen -- Erin Gruwell comes to mind -- that instructors need to come from the same background or neighborhood in order to build a bond that breaks through emotional guard needed outside the classroom in order to successfully teach.  Rather, it seems what's most important is the drive and dedication, which unfortunately can take a toll on the lives of instructors outside school (as we also saw with Erin, and even Curtis Acosta in Precious Knowledge acknowledged that catching the kids up in 11th and 12th grades would put "tremendous pressure" on himself).

The days and classes would begin and end with acknowledgement -- activities acknowledging the worth of fellow students and faculty.  Greetings, eye contact, handshakes, etc., all would be fostered as core interpersonal communication skills are developed.

The desks would be set up in groups so students learn to work in teams, rather than all being spaced equally apart.   The curriculum would be open to the parents of those attending, allowing insight into what the faculty is teaching and welcome opportunity for any feedback/requested changes.   A primary focus would be placed on the core skills of reading and math, areas that students in inner cities typically underperform in.

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Increased focus on kids' psychological health may seem like the education world's flavor of the day, but it's achieving results.

On a recent Monday morning, 25 freshmen filed into Rudolph "Keeth" Matheny's wood-paneled portable classroom on the campus of Austin High School in Austin, Texas. But not before the shake. Matheny greeted each student by name, then extended his hand.

"I won the handshake competition, and there's an art to it," one student said. "You have to do webbing to webbing, that's the trick." Shake firmly, but not too hard, look the person in the eye, smile. The student demonstrated and, indeed, his handshake was a winner.

In addition to perfecting handshakes, Matheny, an ex-college football coach, teaches Methods for Academic and Personal Success (MAPS), and he happens to be on the frontlines of a growing movement in education: social-emotional learning (SEL). SEL -also called whole-child education-is a systematic, evidence-based approach to teaching kids how to achieve goals, understand and manage emotions, build empathy, forge relationships, and make responsible decisions. In 2012, the Chicago-based nonprofit Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) partnered with eight districts around the country to implement SEL in their schools. Today, CASEL is working with 10 large districts-including Anchorage, Alaska; Austin; Chicago; Cleveland; Nashville, Tennessee; and Oakland, California-and a growing number of smaller ones. These partnerships mean more than 1 million U.S. school children are enrolled in schools that have implemented or are in the process of implementing a social-emotional learning strategy.

The day I visited Austin, half of the 90-minute MAPS class was devoted to unveiling students' life maps-art projects that depict a future career goal and the steps necessary to get there. "It seems simple," Matheny said. "But kids will take these maps home and put them on their bedroom walls. Sometimes they become really important parts of their lives: They're visual reminders of what they want and how they're going to get there." The other half of the class time was devoted to defeating "victim-itis." The students read "Invictus," a poem that was significant to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela. As they exited the classroom, they high-fived Matheny at the door and recited the last two lines of the poem:

"I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul."

Much of the recent SEL interest can be linked to two seminal studies. In 2011, a meta-analysis published in the journal Child Development showed an 11 percentile gain in academic achievement for students who participated in a well-implemented SEL program versus students who didn't. And in 2015, the economist Clive Belfield and colleagues at Teachers College, Columbia University published a study in the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis that demonstrated a roughly $11 benefit for every $1 spent on a rigorous SEL program. Just about every way to measure student success shows SEL can work. At Austin High, discipline referral rates have been cut in half, and graduation rates are at an all-time high.

Matheny has been at this awhile, long before he even knew the term "SEL." He developed the initial version of MAPS in 2009. The class was based on a sports-psychology seminar he'd taught to college students for 13 years. That material just happened to dovetail with an interest of Meria Carstarphen, who was the school's superintendent at the time and the original force behind bringing social-emotional learning to Austin. On Carstarphen's watch, Austin became one of the first school districts to partner with CASEL. Today, Matheny is the coauthor of a high-school SEL curriculum, and Austin High has become a sort of SEL pilgrimage point. More than 300 educators over the last few years have visited to witness firsthand a model SEL class.
Even during a math or science course, students are encouraged to use SEL concepts like goal-setting or perseverance.
Austin High has two SEL-dedicated teachers, Matheny and his colleague Leslie Oduwole. SEL is delivered as the year-long MAPS course available to freshmen, it's meted out in smaller doses during "advisory"-a sort of homeroom that all students have-and it's infused in the culture and climate of the school. So even during a math or science course, students are encouraged to use SEL concepts like goal-setting or perseverance.

Research on SEL says the approach can be effective for kids in urban, suburban, or rural schools, regardless of their academic standing. Matheny said he's particularly blown away, however, by how effective it is for students who have struggled. For example, Daniel, an 18-year-old Austin High senior, who has battled obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety since the age of 9 said of SEL: "It took me a while to warm up to it. But once I did, I learned how to study, how to stay organized, how to have a planner." In MAPS, Daniel and the other students learned about goal setting, resilience strategies, and nifty hacks such as the Pomodoro Technique, which Daniel said helped reduce his academic stress and anxiety. Most important perhaps, the coursework included calming and focusing techniques and simple breathing and mindfulness exercises, which Daniel now uses daily. He became so enthusiastic about SEL that he started teaching it (part of Austin's program involves student-led instruction). He's now Austin High's valedictorian, and this fall he will be heading to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to run cross country for his new school: Harvard.

I met at least a dozen more SEL ambassadors like Daniel. A young lady in a striped T-shirt dress and sneakers beamed as she told me she got accepted to Texas Tech University in Lubbock. One senior said his parents quit school in ninth grade, and he was destined to do the same. "Throughout school I was the kid who was always sent to the principal, always getting referrals." Then came Austin High, where he was introduced to SEL. Now his grades place him in the top 2 percent of his graduating class, and he's been accepted to at least a half dozen colleges. "I want to be an aeronautical engineer," he said shyly.

While the research and anecdotal evidence pile up on the side of SEL, there have been questions about its value. A 2010 study by the National Center for Education Research looked at seven SEL-based programs and couldn't find beneficial results. From the study, titled "Efficacy of Schoolwide Programs to Promote Social and Character Development and Reduce Problem Behavior in Elementary School Children": "In conclusion, the analysis of the year-by-year impacts did not yield evidence that the seven SACD programs, combined and individually, improved student social and character development." This study was criticized at the time however (even by one of the investigators) for not using the statistical measures or methods best suited to the data. When the data were analyzed using other methods, positive results were found.

There also are those who oppose social-emotional learning from a political perspective, including the Breitbart News-aligned American Principles Project and Town Hall, websites for conservative news and commentary. Jane Robbins, a senior fellow at the American Principles Project, wrote:

But CASEL & Co. believe the government should take over in case the parents and church don't do it right-perhaps teaching the wrong attitudes and mindsets.

Suppose the government decides a child will be a more acceptable student, citizen, and worker bee if he learns to acquiesce to the "consensus" of the group, regardless of his own moral standards, or if she learns to accept that all commands of the government must be obeyed. The student may fulfill the standard by developing the correct attitudes, but under whose authority does the government presume to instill attitudes that may conflict with parents' desires?

But dictating how kids should feel couldn't be further from what SEL is doing, said Joan Duffell, the executive director of Committee for Children (CFC), a global nonprofit that's been championing SEL in preschool, elementary, and middle schools for decades. Instead, SEL empowers students to become more engaged citizens. "SEL is not only fundamental to education, but it's fundamental to raising citizens who actually participate in democratic life." The formerly communist countries of Lithuania and Slovakia have partnered with CFC to bring social-emotional learning to their schools. "The parents of the current schoolchildren were raised in a generation that didn't have any power," Duffell said. Educators there recognized they had to do something to help children develop belief in their own power. "They wanted children to learn how to take responsibility as citizens. SEL teaches kids the skills they need to succeed as adults in a democracy."

The everyday work of SEL instruction, like the instruction at Austin High, is called "tier 1." "Tier 2" and "tier 3" include crisis intervention. That's the work that drove Eric Gordon, the CEO of the Cleveland school district, to change his city's schools into social-emotional learning environments. In fact, he can pinpoint the day his interest began: October 10, 2007. It was Gordon's 10th day as an employee in the district and a student, suspended from school, shot two classmates and two teachers before he ended his own life. "We made a promise on that day to never stop talking about what happened and to never allow it to happen again," Gordon said. He was the chief academic officer at the time, and the superintendent assigned him the task of figuring out how the district should proceed after the tragedy. The American Institutes for Research, a D.C. nonprofit, performed a thorough evaluation of Cleveland schools. Their recommendation: Adopt a serious social-emotional learning strategy.
"We'd live in a better world with far less hate and far better social and emotional health."
Cleveland has now implemented a rigorous SEL program. "Just recently, a child didn't make it to school, and we learned he was potentially planning to harm himself," Gordon said. The student had made a threatening call to school. "We were able to get our safety and security team to locate him with the help of Cleveland police." A rapid response team worked with the student and got him professional mental health services in a matter of hours. "These are the things that didn't exist in 2007 and that are now part of our SEL system."

Cleveland is experiencing an upturn in student enrollment for the first time in years. Math and reading scores, as well as GPAs, are also on the rise. Carstarphen, who recently took over Atlanta schools, is introducing social-emotional learning there, and it's happening even quicker than she made it happen in Austin. It took Austin Independent School District about four years to get all 129 elementary, middle and high schools converted to SEL learning environments. Even with district-level commitment, there can be hurdles to seeing positive results from SEL programs. "If you use a well-designed curriculum and your implementation is great, the kids benefit and the school gets results," said Trish Shaffer, the SEL coordinator for Washoe County School District in Nevada. "If a school doesn't implement the program very well, though, that will show." Last year, the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, launched the National Commission on Social, Emotional and Academic Development. Educators expect the commission, which sunsets at the end of next year, will add further knowledge about how SEL is best integrated into teaching methods and schools. Even with the best implementation, though, some kids will continue to struggle. SEL is not a silver bullet for all that ails children and education.

But it helps."I'm convinced that if every student in the U.S. had a high-quality SEL program, the United States would be at the top of the education rankings," Carstarphen said. Or as Matheny sees it: "We'd live in a better world with far less hate and far better social and emotional health."

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The Psychological Approach to Educating Kids

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Increased focus on kids' psychological health may seem like the education world's flavor of the day, but it's achieving results. On a recent Monday morning, 25 freshmen filed into Rudolph "Keeth" Matheny's wood-paneled portable classroom on the campus of Austin High School in Austin, Texas. But not before the shake.

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Leveraging the strength of the urban/public K-12 charter schools.

Many believe in the promise of public education, but perhaps less so in the system supporting it.  Diversity of student distribution can be done by expanding boundaries of a district and is a noble goal, but public charter schools possess a unique opportunity toward similar integration by leveraging a strong curriculum to expand parent/student interest of all demographics beyond immediate neighboring communities -- and in the process, perhaps even making the school more effectively integrated than a traditional public school approach might be.

One study from 2015, conducted but The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University showed that, while charter school performance as whole showed little difference over traditional public schools, "students in urban charter schools general perform better than their matched pairs."  One example in the study, Urban charters performed the same in math 33% of the time, worse 24% of the time, *but* better 43% of the time, nearly half!

Since enrollment in charter schools is voluntary, demand may be greater than the number of seats offered -- as we saw in the documentary Waiting for Superman.  It's also possible that such demand is a testament to the impact the school is making, and a lack of supply can be addressed by the addition of more charter schools.

Another issue could be co-location, which should be addressed either by leveraging only unused classrooms/facilities or finding an alternate location altogether.  In no case should a charter school presence within a traditional public school be a reason resources within that school are harder to access.

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Charter schools are tuition-free, publicly funded schools. Charter school leaders accept greater accountability in exchange for greater autonomy. About 3 million students attend charter schools across 43 states and the District of Columbia. Assessing whether charter schools work is a complicated question. While the last four U.S. presidents-Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump-all expressed support for charter schools, support is splintering along party lines.

About 3 million students attend charter schools across 43 states and the District of Columbia.

Compared to traditional public schools, a disproportionate share of charter school students are Hispanic (33%) or Black (26%).

Assessing whether charter schools work is difficult because doing so requires clarity about their goals and good measures of how well they achieve those goals.

What is a charter school?

Traditionally, local school districts operate public schools. They make decisions about how schools run, in some cases through collective bargaining agreements with teachers unions. Most students are assigned to traditional public schools based on the neighborhood in which they live.

Charter schools operate differently. A charter school begins with an application that describes the proposed school's mission, curriculum, management structure, finances, and other characteristics. That proposal goes to a government-approved authorizing agency such as a school district or a university. Who can serve as an authorizer-like many aspects of charter school law-varies from state to state. If the authorizer approves the proposal, it creates a contract ("charter") with the school's governing board that describes the school's rights, responsibilities, and performance expectations. This is the core of what has been called the "charter school bargain." School leaders accept greater accountability (e.g., the possibility of closure for poor performance) in exchange for greater autonomy (e.g., the ability to pursue a specialized theme).

Along with accountability and autonomy, the other principle at the foundation of the charter school model is choice. Students are not assigned to charter schools based on where they live. Instead, their families request a seat in the school. Some cities use unified enrollment systems that allow families to request many schools at once, ranked in order of preference, and then assign students to schools using a placement algorithm.

The principles of accountability, autonomy, and choice are interconnected. For example, choice serves as a form of market accountability (since schools must attract families to stay open), while school leaders can use their autonomy to differentiate themselves and create a rich assortment of choices for families.

Why are charter schools controversial?

Since their formative days in the early 1990s, charter schools have drawn support from unusual political coalitions, with different groups seeing different opportunities. Many conservatives like the market competition and limited government control. Many progressives like that all families, not just the wealthy, get to choose their children's schools. Even some union leaders saw early promise in charter schools as a way to give teachers more voice in how schools run. In fact, the last four U.S. presidents-Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump-all expressed support.

However, the politics of charters are changing. Teachers unions have long been charter schools' most powerful opponents-they are skeptical that charter school teachers actually have more control and frustrated that only 11% of charter schools employ unionized teachers. More generally, support is splintering along party lines as Democrats- especially white progressives -have become increasingly opposed. Some of this polarization predates the Trump administration. For example, many prominent Democrats, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, opposed a 2016 Massachusetts referendum to allow more charter schools (a referendum that was soundly defeated). However, the emergence of President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as the most prominent charter school supporters has accelerated the polarization in public opinion.

The specific critiques of charter schools vary. For example, some dislike that charter schools attract public funding (and students) that otherwise would have gone to traditional public schools. Others dislike that for-profit education management organizations can operate charter schools in some states ( about 12% of charter schools had this status in 2016-17, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools). Others worry about a lack of transparency or public control-or that charters haven't lived up to their promise.

Who attends charter schools?

Despite the attention these schools get, only about 6% of U.S. public school students attended a charter school in 2016-17. As illustrated by the light blue line in the figure below, this percentage has increased since the turn of the century, although the rate of growth appears to be tapering off.

This partly reflects the fact that a much larger share of charter schools (57%) than traditional public schools (25%) are operating in cities. In many cities, including Detroit and Washington, D.C., a majority or near-majority of public school students attend a charter school. At the extreme end of the spectrum, New Orleans has an all-charter public school system.

Do charter schools work?

Assessing whether charter schools work requires clarity about their goals and good measures of how well they achieve those goals. It is not clear that we have either.

The most commonly reported studies compare students' academic performance in charter versus non-charter schools. These comparisons are methodologically challenging, since charter school students differ from other public school students in ways that could affect their performance. Researchers need to find reasonable comparison groups.

One approach is to examine the random lotteries often used when a school receives more applicants than it can accommodate. Researchers tend to find that lottery winners perform much better than lottery losers, but these comparisons come with major caveats. Only schools with excess demand conduct lotteries, and it's no surprise that students who get into the most sought-after schools perform well.

The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University has taken a different approach. CREDO obtains student-level data from many states and districts and then matches charter school students with traditional public school students who appear similar in many ways (e.g., students of the same race, gender, and poverty status, with similar prior test scores, who previously attended the same schools). Then they compare charter students' test scores with the scores of their matched non-charter pairs. This method isn't foolproof-for example, the variables used for matching could miss something important-but it is probably the best approach to date for charter/non-charter comparisons that represent the broad population of charter schools.

The figure below shows some notable results from the CREDO studies. The key takeaway is that charter school students, in general, perform about the same as their matched peers in the traditional public schools, but there is variation across different types of schools and groups of students. For example, students in urban charter schools generally perform better than their matched pairs- likely for an assortment of reasons-while students in online charter schools perform much worse.

However, we should consider whether a charters versus traditional public schools comparison is the right measure in the first place. Part of the rationale for charter schools is that they should generate innovation and competitive pressure that improve charter and non-charter schools alike. If those improvements occur-and there is some evidence for this-these comparisons might understate the benefits of charter schools. If charter schools harm traditional public schools by, for example, reducing funding or creating funding uncertainty-and there is some evidence for this, too-these comparisons might understate the costs of charter schools.

Regardless, test score comparisons paint an incomplete picture of charter school performance. We care about a much broader set of outcomes, including how charter schools affect racial segregation, to what extent they create options for disadvantaged families, and whether they are truly producing innovative school models. The related research is too expansive for this overview but summarized nicely in a 2015 NBER report.

What can policymakers do at the federal level?

When presidential candidates talk about charter schools, it is more about politics and principle than policy, since education is largely left to the states. However, the federal government plays a role. For example, the U.S. Department of Education administers the Charter Schools Program (CSP), which provides funds to assist with matters such as charter school start-up, facilities acquisition, and replication. Congress allotted $440 million for the CSP in FY 2019-a figure that has increased substantially during the Trump administration. Federal policymakers could increase or decrease overall funding and add or remove stipulations for that funding (e.g., keeping federal funds from reaching for-profit charter schools).

State and local policymakers regularly make consequential decisions about charter schools. These decisions cover a wide range of issues, including funding formulas, caps on the number of schools or seats allowed, determinations of which schools (or types of schools) to open, rules about which students get priority access to high-demand schools, and requirements for open meetings and records.

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What are charter schools and do they deliver?

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Charter schools are tuition-free, publicly funded schools. Charter school leaders accept greater accountability in exchange for greater autonomy. About 3 million students attend charter schools across 43 states and the District of Columbia. Assessing whether charter schools work is a complicated question. While the last four U.S.

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Pilot a K-12 urban charter school program that removes the need to compete for public funds with traditional public schools.

The competition for public funds with traditional public schools for students is acknowledged, but in an ideal world (and this is an ideal school), all schools serving the public are adequately funded and unable to point at funding as a reason for poor performance.  This pilot would be part of a 10-year program whereby public charter schools receive equal per-student funding and resources as traditional public schools.

According to the website educationdata.org, federal, state and local governments spend $14,840 per student to fund K-12 education annually, with state and local governments making up the vast majority of the investments.  Obviously the degree of investment varies on down to the school itself, but it serves at least as a marker of need.

Charter schools currently compete for public funding yet don't always have the same infrastructure set up for traditional public schools.  In this ideal world there would be no loss to the funding of traditional public school, the amount of funding would not go down if students leave the school ** but ** charter schools, at least in urban areas,  would receive the same amount of per-student funding ** and ** would also be provided a venue, perhaps unused government administrative buildings.   This accomplishes 2 goals -- 1) funding for the traditional schools during the pilot period potentially goes up on a per-student basis if students leave the school, which could even help put the school on the right track if per-student levels of funding were a concern behind any underperformance (fewer students also allows the student-to-faculty ratio to go down), and 2) levels the playing field with urban charter schools having to secure/pay for facilities, so that the school can just focus on its core mission -- educational program and approach.

Charter schools under this scenario would raise eyebrows since there would seem to be a move toward favoring them, but that isn't the case.  Rather, it's a concept that so far has only been tested on 2 cylinders.  The concept needs to be better supported for it to be a fully tested and fair comparison.  The approach would raise costs, and the costs for these urban schools should primarily be state-funded without any negative impact to the cities in which they operate.  States have more pockets in which to choose from, other programs they fund that can be scaled back, and can more easily make urban charter schools a budgeted realty.

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Report Highlights. Public education spending in the United States falls short of global benchmarks and lags behind economic growth; K-12 schools spend $794.7 billion or per pupil annually.

Federal, state, and local governments provide $810.0 billion or per pupil to fund K-12 public education.

The difference between spending and funding is $15.3 billion or per pupil.

The federal government provides 10.5% of funding for public K-12 education.

Public postsecondary schools spend an average of $28,980 per pupil.

The national gross domestic product (GDP) grows 13.5% faster than public education budgets.

* Percentage totals do not always equal 100 due to rounding.

Related research includes Number of Public Schools in the US | K-12 Enrollment and Student Population | Average Cost of Private School | Average Cost of College | Average Cost of Community College

Public Education Spending Statistics

Public education spending at the national level services 49.4 million K-12 students and 14.5 million postsecondary students. It is normal for spending totals to undercut public funding totals to a degree.

K-12 public schools spend $16,080 per pupil.

Public K-12 expenditures total $794.7 billion .

Expenditures are equivalent to 3.57% of taxpayer income.

Federal public education funding is equivalent to 0.38% of total taxpayer income.

State and local funding is equivalent to 3.26%.

States and local governments contribute a combined $8,030 .

Tuition accounts for 19.5% of all funding.

6.00% of all postsecondary funding comes from sales and services of auxiliary enterprises.

2-year public institutions spend 14.6% of what 4-year public colleges spend annually.

U.S. and World Education Spending

In the United States, education spending falls short of benchmarks set by international organizations such as UNESCO, of which the U.S. is a member. The nation puts 12.7% of public funding toward education, well below the international standard 15.00%.

Schools in the United States spend an average of $19,380 per pupil, which is the 2 -highest amount per pupil (after adjusting to local currency values) among the 37 other developed nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The United States does not meet UNESCO's benchmark of a 15.00% share of total public expenditure on education.

In terms of early childhood education, the United States is one of eight (8) countries that do not report any educational spending.

Luxembourg spends US$25,430 per pupil, which is more than any of the other OECD nations spend on education.

African nations spend the highest amount on education in terms of a percentage of GDP.

At 6.00%, the United States spends a larger percentage of its GDP on education than many other North American and European nations, which average 4.85% of GDP in educational spending.

Public Education Spending by State

Education spending refers to the money spent by public schools. This may include teacher and administrator salaries, supplies, building maintenance, field trips, etc. These numbers refer to how much money has a direct impact on public school students.

Public Education Funding by State

Educational funding or financing refers to how much money goes into schools, also sometimes referred to as revenue or income. Financing influences spending, but states rarely spend 100% of their public school funding.

Public Education Spending in Alabama

Alabama spends less on K-12 education in terms of dollars-per-pupil and in terms of percentage of taxpayers' personal income. The state ranks 42 in funding and 40 th in school spending.

Public Education Spending in Alaska

Public Education Spending in Arizona

Public Education Spending in Arkansas

Public Education Spending in California

Public Education Spending in Colorado

Public Education Spending in Connecticut

Public Education Spending in Delaware

Public Education Spending in the District of Columbia

District of Columbia K-12 schools spend $19,000 per pupil for a total of $1.69 billion annually.

Expenditures are equivalent to 2.55% of taxpayer income.

District of Columbia K-12 schools receive $166.6 million, or $1,870 per pupil, from the federal government.

Local funding totals $1.50 billion, or $16,850 per pupil.

Federal education funding is equivalent to 0.25% of local taxpayer income.

Funding for K-12 education in the District of Columbia totals $1.66 billion, or $18,720 per pupil.

District of Columbia school spending exceeds funding by $24.8 million or $280 per pupil.

At the postsecondary level, public colleges and universities spend $38,420 per pupil, 21.2% of which goes toward instruction.

Federal funding for public postsecondary institutions averages $2,990 per student.

Local funding averages $21,260 per student.

Tuition accounts for 13.4% of all funding, which is a 36.6% smaller share than the previous year.

0.19% of all postsecondary funding in D.C. comes from sales and services of auxiliary enterprises.

Public Education Spending in Florida

Public Education Spending in Georgia

Public Education Spending in Hawaii

Public Education Spending in Idaho

Public Education Spending in Illinois

Illinois ranks 7 in K-12 school spending and 6 th in funding. Illinois schools receive more state and local funding in terms of a percentage of taxpayer income.

Public Education Spending in Indiana

Public Education Spending in Iowa

Public Education Spending in Kansas

Public Education Spending in Kentucky

Public Education Spending in Louisiana

Public Education Spending in Maine

Public Education Spending in Maryland

Public Education Spending in Massachusetts

Public Education Spending in Michigan

Public Education Spending in Minnesota

Public Education Spending in Mississippi

Public Education Spending in Missouri

Public Education Spending in Montana

Public Education Spending in Nebraska

Public Education Spending in Nevada

Public Education Spending in New Hampshire

Public Education Spending in New Jersey

Public Education Spending in New Mexico

Public Education Spending in New York

Public Education Spending in North Carolina

Public Education Spending in North Dakota

Public Education Spending in Ohio

Public Education Spending in Oklahoma

Public Education Spending in Oregon

Public Education Spending in Pennsylvania

Public Education Spending in Rhode Island

Public Education Spending in South Carolina

Public Education Spending in South Dakota

Public Education Spending in Tennessee

Public Education Spending in Texas

Public Education Spending in Utah

Public Education Spending in Vermont

Public Education Spending in Virginia

Public Education Spending in Washington

Public Education Spending in West Virginia

West Virginia K-12 schools rank 31 in spending and 27 t in funding. Schools in West Virginia spend much more relative to local taxpayer income compared to the average school nationwide.

Public Education Spending in Wisconsin

Public Education Spending in Wyoming

Sources

1. National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education

2. United States Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances

3. United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis, Data

4. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Statistical Resources

5. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Database, Education Statistics

6. United States Department of Education, Budget History Tables

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U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics [2023]: per Pupil + Total

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Find out how much the U.S. spends on public education and how the costs break down per student, by state and by level of government.