Homepage

Highlighting

The Teaching Profession

Teaching Innovation: New School Staffing Strategies Inspired by the Pandemic

Read More about Teaching Innovation: New School Staffing Strategies Inspired by the Pandemic

Tackling Teacher Shortages With Targeted Strategies

Read More about Tackling Teacher Shortages With Targeted Strategies

Legislative Tracker: 2023 Teacher-Pay Bills in the States

Read More about Legislative Tracker: 2023 Teacher-Pay Bills in the States

Who We Are

FutureEd is an independent, solution-oriented think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy that is committed to improving opportunities and outcomes for vulnerable students in the nation’s schools and colleges.

About Us
Education, By the Numbers

FutureEd Index

College Dropout Rates

  • 32.9%

    Undergraduates who do not complete their degree program

  • 35%

    Less income earned among dropouts compared to bachelor’s degree holders

Source: Education Data Initiative

Computer Science Courses

  • 57.5%

    High schools that offer foundational computer science courses

  • 5.8%

    High school students who are enrolled in those courses

Source: Code.org

Teacher Vacancies

  • 47%

    Public schools that were unable to fill a teaching position for physical sciences, 2021-22 school year

  • 26%

    Public schools that were unable to fill a teaching position for physical sciences, 2011-12 school year

Source: NCES

Role Models

  • 28%

    Young adults from lower-income households who said they had a role model with a successful career growing up

  • 84%

    Young adults from higher-income families who said they had a successful role model growing up

Source: Amazon-Gallup Poll

School Resource Officers

  • $2.62 billion

    Annual expenditures on school resource officers’ salaries and benefits (in 2023 dollars) nation-wide

  • $46.87

    Average expenditure per student on school resource officers

Source: Urban Institute

School Meals

  • $170.13

    Average yearly school meal debt per child in the U.S.

  • 1.54 million

    Students across the country whose families must pay for full-priced school meals they cannot afford

Source: Center for American Progress

NAEP Scores & Absenteeism

  • 45%

    4th grade reading NAEP score decline explained by changes in absenteeism

  • 27%

    4th grade math NAEP score decline explained by changes in absenteeism

Source: The White House

Higher Education

  • $30,000

    Average total income among U.S. adults with no postsecondary education

  • $75,000

    Average total income among U.S. adults with a bachelor's degree

Source: Gallup

School Supplies

  • $500

    Average amount public school teachers spend on classroom supplies

  • 25%

    Increase in the cost of school supplies in the U.S. from 2022 to 2023

Source: The 74

Parent Satisfaction

  • 80%

    Parents in the U.S. satisfied with their child's education

  • 42%

    Adults in the U.S. satisfied with the education system

Source: Gallup

Legacy Advantage

  • 37%

    Acceptance rate at selected elite colleges for legacy students

  • 9.5%

    Acceptance rate at the same schools for non-legacy students

Source: The New York Times

Learning Loss

  • 4.1

    Additional months of schooling needed for students grades 3-8 to catch up in reading

  • 4.5

    Additional months of schooling needed for students grades 3-8 to catch up in math

Source: NWEA

School Psychologists

  • 1,127

    Average students per school psychologist

  • 500

    Recommended students per school psychologist

Source: National Association of School Psychologists

Arming Teachers

  • 54%

    Teachers who believe teachers carrying firearms would make schools less safe

  • 20%

    Teachers who believe teacher-carry would make schools safer

Source: RAND

NAEP Scores, 13-year-olds

  • 85%

    13-year-olds who demonstrated skills in basic problem solving and math operations in 2012

  • 71%

    13-year-olds who demonstrated skills in basic problem solving and math operations in 2022

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Religion in School

  • 63%

    Democrats who believe public school teachers should not be able to lead students in prayer

  • 39%

    Republicans who believe public school teachers should not be able to lead students in prayer

Source: Pew Research Center

Partisan Views on Schools

  • 72%

    Democrats who believe K-12 schools are having a positive effect on the country

  • 61%

    Republicans who believe K-12 schools are having a negative effects on the country

Source: Pew Research Center

Teacher Salaries & Rent Prices

  • 15

    Cities where a one-bedroom rental is unaffordable for a new teacher with a bachelor's degree

  • 9

    Cities where a one-bedroom rental is unaffordable for a new teacher with a master's degree

Source: NCTQ

NAEP History Scores

  • 29%

    8th graders scoring below "basic" on NAEP U.S. history, 2014

  • 40%

    8th graders scoring below "basic" on NAEP U.S. history, 2022

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

School Resource Officers

  • 36%

    Schools that are lower-income, predominantly Black (>80%) with a school resource officer, 2017-18

  • 5%

    Schools that are lower-income, predominantly White (>80%) with a school resource officer, 2017-18

Source: Urban Institute

Teacher Pension Costs

  • $21.8 billion

    Teacher pension costs in 2001

  • $63.7 billion

    Teacher pension costs in 2021, adjusted for inflation

Source: Equable Institute

Chronic Absenteeism

  • 8 million

    Students who were chronically absent pre-pandemic

  • 16 million

    Students who were chronically absent in spring 2022

Source: Attendance Works

Book Bans, 2021-22 School Year

  • 2,532

    Book bans during the 2021-22 school year

  • 1,648

    Unique book titles being banned

Source: Pen America

Advanced Math Offerings

  • 87%

    High schools with low enrollment of students from low-income families offering calculus

  • 45%

    High schools with high enrollment of students from low-income families offering calculus

Source: Learning Policy Institute

Perception of School Quality

  • 34%

    Registered voters who rate the U.S. public school system as good or excellent

  • 60%

    Registered voters who rate the U.S. public school system as fair or poor

Source: Murmuration

Girls’ Mental Health

  • 57%

    Teen girls who reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021

  • 36%

    Teen girls who reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2011

Source: CDC

Rainy-Day Funds

  • $136.8 billion

    Estimated rainy-day funds among states in FY2023

  • $134.5 billion

    Estimated rainy-day funds among states in FY2022

Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

Curriculum Changes, 2022

  • 24%

    Teachers who altered their curricula in response to the limitations placed on how they can address topics related to race or gender

Source: RAND

Universal Pre-K

  • 17

    States, plus D.C., with a universal pre-k policy as of January 2023

  • 5

    States with at least 70 percent of 4-year-olds enrolled in pre-K, 2019-20

Source: National Institute for Early Education Research

Tutoring

  • 56%

    Schools that report using high-impact or high-dosage tutoring, 2022

  • 38%

    Schools that report using another form of tutoring

Source: Institute of Education Sciences 2022 School Pulse Panel

Deep Dives

FutureEd Reports

Comprehensive policy analysis of major issues facing schools and colleges

Leaning In: The New Power of Parents in Public Education

A profile of the changing parent landscape in public education

Unfinished Agenda: The Future of Standards-Based School Reform

Reflections on the evolution of the standards movement in American and the movement’s future

In Demand: The Real Teacher Shortages and How to Solve Them

Post-pandemic teacher supply and demand trends and strategic solutions to shortages

The Churn

The latest leadership changes in the education sector

View All

Charles L. Welch, who was president of Arkansas State University System, has been named the new president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

November 2023

Dr. Janice Hicks, who was vice president for institutional effectiveness at Odessa College, is the new deputy director of education grantmaking at Ascendium Education Philanthropy.

November 2023

Sara Allan, who was a director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will be the next president of the Valhalla Foundation.

October 2023

Highlighting

Chronic Absenteeism

Attendance Playbook: Smart Solutions for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic

Read More about Attendance Playbook: Smart Solutions for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic

State Strategies for Fighting Chronic Student Absenteeism

Read More about State Strategies for Fighting Chronic Student Absenteeism

Have Policymakers Overlooked a Major Contributor to the Dismal 2022 NAEP Results?

Read More about Have Policymakers Overlooked a Major Contributor to the Dismal 2022 NAEP Results?

Next Generation Ideas

The Future of American Education

Resetting the agenda for the nation's schools and colleges

Read the Essays

When School Reform Is Not Enough

A New Strategy for Driving Educational Equity

The Promise and Peril of New Teaching Technologies

An Equity Agenda for Higher Education

In Defense of College Degrees and New Post-Secondary Pathways

The Case for a New School Finance Reform Agenda

Highlighting

Racial Equity

Teachers Like Us: Strategies for Increasing Educator Diversity

Read More about Teachers Like Us: Strategies for Increasing Educator Diversity

The Surprising Sources of Racial Gaps in Higher Education

Read More about The Surprising Sources of Racial Gaps in Higher Education

Q&A: Why, and How, We Need to Address School Segregation

Read More about Q&A: Why, and How, We Need to Address School Segregation

Latest Episode

FutureU Podcast

Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn discuss what’s next for higher education

More episodes

FutureU Podcast Ep. 144: How Colleges Can Cultivate Relationships to Improve the Student Experience

Jeff Selingo and Michael Horn are joined by author Ana Homayoun to discuss her new book, “Erasing the Finish Line: The New Blueprint for Success Beyond Grades…

The Churn

The latest leadership changes in the education sector

Events

Upcoming events at FutureEd and across the education policy world

FutureEd in the News

Media mentions and our work on other platforms