Shocking College Readiness Statistics Followthemoney.com

by Jennifer Robinson, Financial Writer

According to a recent documentary entitled “Waiting For Superman,” it is estimated that by the year 2020, there will be 123 million high-paying, high-skilled jobs in the U.S., but only 50 million Americans will be qualified for these jobs.

If you haven’t noticed, the education system in America is in crisis mode. Reading levels, math scores, and graduation rates are dropping below many other developed nations in the world. College readiness is at an all-time low, especially considering how many high school graduates think they are actually ready for college. Furthermore, educational spending per student has grown from $4,300 in 1971 to over $11,000 today with no results to show for it. Take a look at the shocking college readiness statistics in the infographic below.

So where has the American school system gone wrong?

Follow the money to find out…

Educational spending per student has grown from $4,300 in 1971 to over $11,000 today.

Since 1950, America’s public schools have seen a 96-percent increase in students that has been accompanied by a 702-percent rise in non-teaching personnel. Teaching staff, meanwhile, increased 252 percent.

According to the National Survey of Salaries and Wages in Public Schools, the average salary for junior high principals in the 2009–10 school year was $95,003. For high school principals, the average was $102,387 for the same year. Furthermore, many schools have assistant principals that earn almost as much as the principal, averaging between $79,000 and $83,000 in the 2009-10 school year.

Less than half the money spent on education in Texas goes toward instruction.

Of course, I would expect nothing less from a bloated, out-of-control-spending government than to take the education of our precious children and turn it into a wasteland of teacher pensions, high-paid administrators, and never-ending paperwork and bureaucracies. However, if you are concerned that your children are not getting the education they deserve, consider homeschooling or private school in order to increase the college readiness of your children. There is also a huge movement by public schools to increase the number of students taking online classes. Check your school district and inquire whether or not they offer online options for your child. Even if the quality of education and instruction is the same for the online option vs. classroom, at least you wouldn’t have to worry about sending your child into the violent, chaotic madhouse we call school in this country.