A new Manhattan Institute report debunks the Democrats’ narrative on education.
Presidential contender Bernie Sanders has lamented the “savage” cuts to education, the “starvation wages of our teachers,” and our “crumbling schools,” while his fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren has complained that “many schools can barely afford nurses or counselors for students – and teachers dip into their own pockets for basic supplies.”
Democrats tell the public that American education is underfunded, teachers are overworked and underpaid, and our schools are decrepit. People often fall for this narrative because they have never been told otherwise. Frankly, left-wing politicians influenced by campaign donations from teachers’ unions have miseducated the public on school finance issues.
“They believe it because they’re told it, repeatedly, by Democrat politicians, teachers’ unions, and foundation-funded education advocacy organizations. There is no real constituency that has an interest in publicly countering the narrative,” Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Max Eden told the Washington Examiner.
He said “fiscal conservatives have plenty else to object to, and few politicians are willing to devote their scarce time to trying to tell the public ‘we spend enough on your kids already!’”
As a result, the majority of Americans vastly underestimate both how much funding schools receive and how much teachers are paid. In a recent EdChoice study, 55% of respondents said the U.S. spends $5,000 or less per student.
The actual figure? An average of $11,762.
Some states, such as New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, even exceed $18,000 per pupil. When provided with the actual per-student spending statistics, Americans are much less likely to think public school spending is too low.
Eden points to an eminently reasonable solution:
Eden’s report notes that last year’s wave of teacher strikes threw teacher pay into the spotlight, highlighting the states — Oklahoma and West Virginia — that are compensation outliers.
The general public thinks teachers make about $18,000 less than they actually do on average. When provided with the actual figure, the percentage of those who agree with Democrats and think teachers need a raise drops from 67% to 49%.
Cold, hard facts resist the dominant political narrative, and the American people deserve to know them. Too bad the facts don’t support the Democratic narrative in the slightest.
Kate Hardiman taught high school in Chicago for two years while earning her Master of Education and is now a Juris Doctor candidate at Georgetown University Law Center.
