U.S. Statistics on Education

There are about 1.5 million elementary school teachers and 1.1 million secondary school teachers in the United States, and the amount spent, by average, on home schooling per child in the United States is about $450. (Source: Charity Navigator.com)

- Between 8 and 15 million children nationwide are unsupervised at the end of each school day;

- An average deaf child isn't introduced to English until age six, upon entering school.

- About 87% of Americans aged 18 to 24 have completed high school with a diploma or an alternative credential such as a General Education Development certificate;

-The school districts in the U.S. with the highest child poverty rates have $1,139 fewer state and local dollars to spend per student than the wealthiest districts; and

- When among 18 to 24-year-old Americans are given maps, 70 percent cannot find New Jersey and 11 percent cannot find the United States.

This country is in a sad state of affairs when it comes to the education of our youth and based on these statistics, it will take the political and philanthropic community to continue dialogue around educational, social, and humanitarian needs of disadvantaged children and families in the future to help resolve the problem.

Although public education has always played an important part in politics in this country, it has also been subject to continual political scrutiny.

Local politics and education are inseparable, as every city's local school system is an organization with a political culture. Various groups from both within the system and outside the system compete for power. Typically there are very limited budgetary resources.

Yet our local school systems are devoted to children and tax dollars -- two of our most important resources. Often times, limited resources cause varying degrees of funding ability for most local school systems, which in turn creates a lot of competition for existing resources.

That's why special interest groups compete, and funding priorities become the object of political debate at all levels - local, state and national.

Education is often a major part of both national political party platforms as well as local community discussions. We have seen that focus in the recent news surrounding our country's recent elections.

But just in case we have forgotten, our country's Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution delegated authority over education to the states. Each state varies from highly decentralized local education systems to more centralized state systems like Hawaii. But the most recent trend has been movement toward increased state standards with new systems for accountability.

Interest in Education at the Federal levwel has long been part of our culture, and in 2001, under direction of President Bush, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was renewed and renamed No Child Left Behind Act (2001). This was a critical step in bettering our country's public education - the objective being - to increase accountability by identifying schools that were in need of improvement. The ACT also called for "highly qualified" teachers in every classroom.

Of all the localized special interest groups - from football supporters, zoning committees, business, boards and various other local agencies, there is also the idea that diverse communities can become divided on school issues.

Religion and political affiliation can also play a role in the politics of our local education, while public education advocates and privatization groups often differ on local policies.

Even community business groups can also be divided regarding the money required for facility improvement projects such as stadiums or school facilities. That is why effective local school leadership lies in balancing these diverse special interest groups.

The reality is that politics are part of every local school system. Effective local school leaders must learn to work within the unique political reality of their local system to accomplish organizational objectives.