A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Commissioner's Statement (Part 6 of 6)

How have conditions facing the schools changed?

Changing conditions that schools must confront are putting additional strains on revenues, even though revenues have increased.

First, schools are facing a period of rising enrollments after a long period of decline (Indicator 35). It is important to monitor these increases because they will affect school budgets as well as policies of teacher recruitment and retention.

Second, many more disabled students, particularly those with learning disabilities, are receiving special services (Indicator 42). This has major financial implications for school districts. There is some evidence that the average cost of serving a special education student is as much as 2.3 times the cost of serving regular students (ranging from 1.9 times for students in resource programs to 10.6 times for students in residential programs). [22]

Third, many more students speak a language other than English at home and have difficulty speaking English, a likely indication that even more students may have difficulty reading and writing English. [23]

By law, school systems nationwide must provide services for children from non-English-language backgrounds. Because these students are disproportionately concentrated in a few states (California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and New York), the education systems in these states are under particular strain to respond to the special needs of these children.

Fourth, many children live in poverty (22 percent or 14.6 million), and these children typically live in neighborhoods and attend school together. Thus, the schools in these neighborhoods are also facing heavy demands.

Fifth, crime in the schools remains a problem. Violence in and around schools directly affects educators and students by reducing school effectiveness and inhibiting students' learning. In 1993, more than one in five high school seniors were threatened at school. However, between 1976 and 1993, there was little change in victimization rates in schools, except for a slight increase in the percentage of students who reported being threatened, both with and without a weapon. And although generally few differences were seen in school victimization rates among black and white high school seniors, black seniors were more likely than their white counterparts to have been threatened with a weapon at school (24 versus 14 percent, Indicator 47).

As this discussion indicates, there is not one answer to the complex question of whether the condition of education is improving. Some conditions are improving, while others are not. In a number of areas, research has not been able to disentangle the influences of several factors, so we cannot be certain whether conditions are actually improving or not. However, this volume can help Americans interested in education policy to pose more sophisticated questions. In doing so, we can make progress toward understanding what produces high quality educational institutions, an educated citizenry, and a skilled work force.

Emerson J. Elliott
Commissioner of Education Statistics

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[What do we know about the quality of schools?]

[Overview]