75-18-4

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Hudson Institute on Education

Transcript From local school boards to the Federal office of Education in Washington, we are being told we must come up with more money for schools if we want little Willy to learn how to read. I'll be right back. The professional educationists lobbies are at it again—(that is if they ever really stopped) demanding more money, more teachers and more control of over how our schools are run. The alternative they say is decline in the quality of education. Comes now a 300 page study by the Hudson Institute, on Primary & Secondary education and just for the record so you won't think Hudson is some tight fisted, anti-education outfit, the study was funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity. That’s O.E.O. the completely liberal, govt spending oriented Poverty Program. Frank E. Armbruster1 directed the study and in his own words found, “education has become increasingly and alarmingly expensive.” In the last 25 years, which certainly covers the period in which concern of over what Willy was learning has been greatest, student enrollment didn’t even double. Actually we went from just under 29 mil. students to not quite 50 mil. But local, state and Federal expenditures for public and private primary and secondary education went up to almost 1Ox what they were—from $6.7 Billion to $61.6 Billion. In the last 15 years an enrollment increase of 18.3% was matched by a spending increase of 245%. I know I'm throwing a lot of figures at you but they are important if we are to understand and be able to resist the incessant lobbying for more school spending. As a percentage of Gross National Product, school spending in these 20 odd years has more than doubled. Now I'm sure none of us would hesitate for a second in approving even more spending if the record indicated that dollar for dollar we were getting our moneys worth; that the little Willys and Johnnies and Marys and Susans were getting a better education. Or if even if it could be proven that more spending was necessary just to maintain the past quality level. Unfortunately we can't say that. Indeed the score board shows the very reverse is true. Achievement in both verbal & mathematical skills is steadily declining and the decline is most pronounced among the brightest of our children. The College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test commonly called SAT is the taken by most of our high school students who feel they may enter college. Thus you could say here is the final judgement among the most intelligent products of 12 years of schooling. There has been a sharp and steady decline in the average SAT scores for the last dozen or so years. Even more significant and yes frightening is the fact that the number of students scoring in the highest bracket (750-800) has been cut almost in half. To sum it up the greatest increase in cost per student in our history almost 150% in constant dollars has been matched by the greatest decline in results. But don't worry—the educationists have an answer. We are being taxed to provide special courses in our state universities and colleges to teach the kids what they were supposed to learn in high school. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 75-18-4 Production Date 09/01/1975 Book/Page RPtV-49 Audio No Youtube? No
		Added Notes 1. Frank Armbruster’s study, “The U.S. Primary and Secondary Education Process,” issued July 14, 1975, was the basis for his later book, Our Children’s Crippled Future: How American Education Has Failed (New York: New York Times Book Company, 1977).