Schools

The US spends more per student on education that most European countries. In 2019 the cost in the US was $15,500 per student which was 38% higher than the $9,600 spent in Europe. This is according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) a testing group established in 1961. The Program for International Student Assessment (PIAS) established in 2000 shows European countries often out perform the US in areas like math and science. The US ranked 28th out of the 37 OECD member countries in math and 12th in science according to 2024 results. All of these countries mainstream students with learning problems. The US is the only one of the 19 nations where more than 50% of the employees in the schools are not teachers. This occurs because the US provides many services that other countries do not, for instance, children travel on buses to school. The US also includes lunch programs and counseling that may not be included in other countries. Here are two examples of districts in this area. District 194 12,000 students with 1675 staff including 684 teachers District 196 29,200 students with 4,000 staff including 2,100 teachers In the US the average is 15 students per teacher vs Europe at 13. One of the differences is that the US has more teachers for special education. The biggest problem in the US is the test score gap between White and Asian students on one hand and Black, Hispanic and Native Americans on the other hand. If this can be narrowed it will affect not only education but other life problems as well.