The perception that education in the United States lags behind other industrialized nations is not universally shared by social scientists. Some po- litical scientists, especially those who study cross-national voting behavior, consider the United States"to have the most educated citizenry" ( Powell 1986, 31). Such judgments are based on comparisons of graduation rates-- more people complete high school in the United States than virtually any- where else. Graduation rates, however, are dubious measures of educational attainment. In standardized math and science testing, U.S. students consis- tently rank at or near the bottom of comparative studies.
Evidence of this support is found in a number of state referendums, most recently in California, proposing a choice-based education system. While gaining enough support to be placed on the ballot, choice has yet to win a majority of a popular vote at the state level.
These reforms were pushed by business in the private sector. The resulting system also seems much less democratic than the system it replaced. The reform- ers took control of education away from politics and patronage and placed it in the hands of professionals who were more insulated from the electorate.
This view of bureaucracy seems contradictory, that is, it portrays a bureaucracy both highly responsive to political forces and jealously protective of its turf. Many scholars have adopted one of these perspectives, but it is hard to incorporate both into a single philosophy.
Money, especially, has been shown repeatedly to be of limited effec- tiveness as a way to improve educational quality. Beyond the authoritative reviews of Hanushek ( 1981, 1986) is the fact that the United States scores lowest on international academic comparisons while spending the most on public education, both in terms of per pupil expenditures and GNP devoted to education. See National Center for Education Statistics ( 1992c, 52-53 and 133.)
Between 1980 and 1990 the average teacher salary in the United States grew approximately 20 percent, from $26,995 to $30,981 in constant ( 1989) dollars ( U.S. Department of Education 1992a). Teacher salaries thus far out- paced inflation.
For a good overview of the education reforms enacted in the past decade, see the National Center for Education Statistics, Overview and Inven- tory of State Requirements for School Coursework and Attendance ( 1992b). The data Chubb and Moe use to give empirical support for their choice pre- scriptions were gathered before many of these reforms were enacted.
Even the effective schools literature offered no blanket support for the reforms of the 1980s. Instructional reforms, such as those aimed at maximiz- ing student learning time, often ran counter to the conclusions drawn from this body of research (see Bryck, Lee, and Smith 1990, 163).
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Publication Information: Book Title: The Case against School Choice: Politics, Markets, and Fools. Contributors: Kevin B. Smith - author, Kenneth J. Meier - author. Publisher: M. E. Sharpe. Place of Publication: Armonk, NY. Publication Year: 1995. Page Number: 30.
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