Schools

The German primary education system has a student teacher ratio of about 13 which is similar to the US but the US would have twice as many staff employees. The cost per student in Germany is $10,000 as compared to the $17,000 in the US. The difference is in the non-teaching staff. America's K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in employment, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Between fiscal year (FY) 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 percent, while the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew 386 percent. Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers' numbers increased 252 percent, while administrators and other non-teaching staff experienced growth of 702 percent, more than seven times the increase in students. In 2000 US and German students age 15 were performing at the same level but by 2012 German 15-year olds were out scoring US students by more than a year’s worth of learning scoring significantly higher in reading, math and science. US primary schools have a large number of non-teaching staff due to a combination of factors including the growing need for specialized support for students with special needs, increased focus on student wellbeing and safety, complex administrative requirements, and the expansion of services like food services and healthcare within the school environment, leading to a need for additional staff to manage these areas beyond classroom instruction. One notable difference is that Extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs, are not organized by the school but instead by parents and community groups. Schools do not compete against one another in sports.