Education in the usa

21st century[edit]
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, passed by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, provided federal aid to the states in exchange for measures to penalize schools that were not meeting the goals as measured by standardized state exams in mathematics and language skills. This made standardized testing a requirement.^[41][42][43] In the same year, the U.S. Supreme Court diluted some of the century-old "Blaine" laws upheld an Ohio law allowing aid to parochial schools under specific circumstances.^[44] The 2006 Commission on the Future of Higher Education evaluated higher education. In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed legislation replacing No Child Left Behind with the Every Student Succeeds Act.^[45]
The Great Recession of 2008–09 caused a sharp decline in tax revenues in all cities and states. The response was to cut education budgets. Obama's $800 billion stimulus package included $100 billion for public schools, which every state used to protect its education budget. In terms of sponsoring innovation, however, Obama and his Education Secretary Arne Duncan pursued K-12 education reform through the Race to the Top grant program. With over $15 billion of grants at stake, 34 states quickly revised their education laws according to the proposals of advanced educational reformers. In the competition, points were awarded for allowing charter schools to multiply, for compensating teachers on a merit basis including student test scores, and for adopting higher educational standards. There were incentives for states to establish college and career-ready standards, which in practice meant adopting the Common Core State Standards Initiative that had been developed on a bipartisan basis by the National Governors Association, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The criteria were not mandatory, they were incentives to improve opportunities to get a grant. Most states revised their laws accordingly, even though they realized it was unlikely they would win a highly competitive new grant. Race to the Top had strong bipartisan support, with centrist elements from both parties. It was opposed by the left-wing of the Democratic Party, and by the right-wing of the Republican Party, and criticized for centralizing too much power in Washington. Complaints also came from middle-class families, who were annoyed at the increasing emphasis on teaching to the test, rather than encouraging teachers to show creativity and stimulating students' imagination.^[46][47]
In the 2010s, student loan debt became recognized as a social problem.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the forced schools to implement technology to transition to virtual meetings.^[53][54] Although the use of technology improves the grading process and the quality of information received,^[55] there is concern that online-only education disadvantages students without internet access, who disproportionately live in poor households, and that technology may make it harder for students to pay attention.
With the unforeseen appearance of the pandemic, colleges and universities are in jeopardy of shutting down for good. Universities are being forced to refund money to students, invest in online technology and tools, making it harder to invest into empty campuses. Schools are defined as being in low financial health if their combined revenue and unrestricted assets will no longer cover operating expenses in 6 years. Before COVID-19, 13 institutions were in danger of closing within 6 years in New England.^[57] With the presence of COVID-19, that number has increased to 25 institutions.^[57] Nationwide, because of the financial impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic, 110 more colleges and universities are now at risk of closing. This labels the total number of colleges and universities in peril due to coronavirus pandemic to be 345 institutions.^[57] While prestigious colleges and universities have historically had financial cushion due to high levels of enrollment, private colleges at a low risk have dropped from 485 to 385.^[57] Federal coronavirus relief has assisted students and universities, however it has not been enough to bandage the financial wound created by COVID-19. Colby-Sawyer College located in New Hampshire has received about $780,000 in assistance through the United States Department of Education.^[57] About half of this money was dispersed amongst the student body. Colby-Swayer College was also capable of receiving a loan of $2.65 million, to avoid layoffs of their 312 employees.^[57]
Statistics
In 2000, 76.6 million students had enrolled in schools from kindergarten through graduate schools. Of these, 72 percent aged 12 to 17 were considered academically "on track" for their age, i.e. enrolled in at or above grade level. Of those enrolled in elementary and secondary schools, 5.7 million (10%) were attending private schools.^[58]
Over 85 percent of the adult population have completed high school and 27 percent have received a bachelor's degree or higher. The average salary for college or university graduates is greater than $51,000, exceeding the national average of those without a high school diploma by more than $23,000, according to a 2005 study by the U.S. Census Bureau.^[59] The 2010 unemployment rate for high school graduates was 10.8%; the rate for college graduates was 4.9%. ^[60]
The country has a reading literacy rate of 99% of the population over age 15,^[61] while ranking below average in science and mathematics understanding compared to other developed countries.^[62] In 2014, a record high of 82% of high school seniors graduated, although one of the reasons for that success might be a decline in academic standards.^[63]
The poor performance has pushed public and private efforts such as the No Child Left Behind Act. In addition, the ratio of college-educated adults entering the workforce to general population (33%) is slightly below the mean of other^[which?] developed countries (35%)^[64] and rate of participation of the labor force in continuing education is high.^[65] A 2000s (decade) study by Jon Miller of Michigan State University concluded that "A slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults".^[66]
In 2006, there were roughly 600,000 homeless students in the United States, but after the Great Recession this number more than doubled to approximately 1.36 million.^[67] The Institute for Child Poverty and Homelessness keeps track of state by state levels of child homelessness.^[68] As of 2017, 27% of U.S. students live in a mother-only household, 20% live in poverty, and 9% are non-English speaking.^[69]
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative^[70] finds that the United States is achieving 77.8% of what should be possible on the right to education at its level of income.^[71]