Public schools in the United States are plagued by countless inefficiencies, controversies, obstacles, and difficulties. Moreover, the specific manifestations of these problems vary between school districts based on the school’s funding, geography, number of students, and a wealth of other factors that change the issues schools deal with. Considering these discrepancies, you might be surprised that there even is one definitive “biggest problem”.
Some might point to improper state funding, others to a lack of federal support; still others might refer to an improperly structured curriculum and teaching style. However, this disregards the true source of the broken educational system in the United States.
Why do teachers have so many assignments to grade, projects to coordinate, and lessons to plan? Students. Who is at the root of the myriad complaints and issues that already overworked school counselors must address? Students. Which group creates the vast majority of costs that an (often underfunded) system is obligated to settle? Students.
The solution to the endless list of problems related to the student body in public schools is its removal. Schools without students are unequivocally a better organization of the education system. Besides, the current system clearly has problems—otherwise, there wouldn’t be a gap between the percentage of white students in AP and Honors classes when compared to Black and Hispanic peers, nor would there be such vast racial disparities in graduation rates. Schools without students have significantly higher graduation rates, college acceptance rates, and test scores; in fact, such schools do so much better that the improvement is mathematically undefined. The scientific graph shown here demonstrates some key factors that play into the success of student-less schools:
Beyond the academic benefits, ridding schools across the country of students has innumerable economic benefits, too. For example, schoolbusfleet.com reports that a new school bus comes in at upwards of fifty thousand dollars, and school districts like ICSD have entire networks of free school buses to transport students to and from school. The costs of obtaining and maintaining those school buses could be entirely eliminated in a student-free school. Moreover, the School Nutrition Association states that the federal government spends billions of dollars each year on public school lunches. These are expenditures that, once again, could be avoided if a student-free policy was instituted. Below is a compilation of the most precise calculations and projections of school district expenditures as they relate to the number of students in those districts.
However, the most important factor is the increase in mental health. It’s no secret that American schools have increasing numbers of students with deteriorating mental health as a direct result of their experiences in schools. The staff in those schools are affected, too. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought more challenges and a much larger workload upon teachers who haven’t been afforded the proper resources to handle them. And then, on top of this, they have to organize online classes and put on a smile for a screen of emotionless, muted profile pictures. With all the media coverage and focus on the declining mental health of teens (which is undoubtedly an issue), teachers are sometimes overlooked. However, this neglects the fact that, unlike a student-less school, a teacher-less school is inherently contradictory and impossible. Furthermore, consider this: teachers are only one part of the group that we call staff. Counselors are one other part. ICSD employs five counselors to deal with over one thousand students. As The Tattler Editorial Board explains in one February Opinion piece, these five hardworking individuals have endless duties catering to the needs of too many students. A student-free school would allow these overworked counselors more time to take care of themselves and deal with fewer tasks each day.
Public schools, particularly middle and high schools, have a lengthy and growing list of complications. School districts and their varied approaches to education all have their own unique flaws and misunderstandings, each with their own ‘solutions’ which in turn create budgeting headaches or even just more problems in other areas of education. As incredulous or suspicious as it may sound, the data and evidence that we have points to the student-free educational model being the one categorical answer to the scores of problems that schools have. If federal and state governments really have any interest in bettering the lives of those involved in the public school system, then the one focus that they should have in the future is to phase out the role of students in schools as quickly as possible.
The clock is ticking!
APRIL FOOLS’!