American Education Priority
The most important resource that a nation has is its people. A superbly educated, and healthy, workforce are key to developing a strong economy. The Department of Education is responsible for developing a superbly educated workforce. You would think that an activity of such importance to the future of a nation would warrant top priority support. WRONG!
The percentage of total spending allocated to a given activity, in a nation’s budget, is a measure of how important the nation believes that activity is. In the 2015 federal budget for America, 3% was allocated to education, 1% to science, 1% to energy, and 16% to the military.
The relative decline of American education has long been a national embarrassment, as well as a threat to the nation’s future. It wasn’t until the the mid-1980s that the federal government took a more robust role in K-12 education; responding to constant reports of poor student performance since the 1960s. America’s students are not progressing to catch-up to their peers in other industrialized countries. The government funding was for special projects focused on solving specific problems. The primary funding of education is still the responsibility of the states or localities. The percent of the Total Federal Budget (Mandatory and Discretionary Spending for Education) was…
2010…3% 2011…1.4% 2012…2%
2013…2% 2014…3% 2015…3%
2016…2% 2017…2% 2018…2.6%
2019…2%
NO COMMON SENSE
ANALYZE THE EXAMPLE
* Which supports and barriers were in play?
*What were the dynamics?
* Who, or what, won the Tug-of-War?
* Discuss the outcome with your friends and family?
* Use Post #4 as a reference for the dynamics and the relationships between supports and barriers.