What Happens When a Society Does not Invest in Education?

For years, educators have struggled with all the reasons why education is one of our essential rights of a democracy. Reasons include equal opportunities for everyone, productivity among citizens, participation among members of that democracy, and more. Often forgotten is the importance of education in terms of its benefit to our country’s economic strength. Education is the engine that drives a healthy economy, and without it we would lose many of the benefits of a democracy.

That’s why I believe education is so important and not only has such far-reaching effects on a person’s life, but also on our communities. In fact, the National Education Association (NEA) has some interesting statistics on the topic including what happens to a society that does not invest in education. Does this affect the economy?

William Schweke, a researcher, says that “prevention is almost always cheaper than treatment. If we do not invest now, we most certainly will pay later.”

Author of a book called Smart Money: Education and Economic Development, he discusses the costs, socially, of inadequate educational and preparation for the workforce. Schweke believes that by increasing earnings, education can lower social costs. Following are some interesting facts:

There is a strong relationship between low basic skills and welfare dependency—60 percent of out-of-wedlock births among 19- to 23-year-olds are to those who score in the lowest 20 percent on basic skills tests.

Raising the means-tested skills of 19- to 23-year-olds by the equivalent of one grade would increase lifetime earnings by 3.6 percent and reduce the likelihood of births out of wedlock by 6.5 percent, welfare dependency by 5.3 percent, and arrests by 6.2 percent.

Did you know that 82 percent of all Americans in prison are high school dropouts?

The United States spends almost 10 times as much as Western European countries on security services, arrest, incarceration and parole. These same countries spend comparable amounts on subsidized training and employment.

About 2 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product is allotted to crime control activities, and another 2 percent is lost to crimes that occur. Inequality in earnings and wealth in the U.S. has been increasing for two decades, so growing economic disparity is hindering the nation’s ability to provide the high-value-added products and services necessary to compete globally.

Education positively affects income distribution and its effects on people’s income. By the way, this is well documented among economists, social scientists and in economics literature. helping to reach children at risk and who can be resilient if they are given the right intervention and education.

My website, http://www.roccobasile.org/, is a composite of all the latest news and information about education in the country. I believe that by helping to reach children at risk, they are resilliant and will become important people in our communities when given the right intervention and education. So you will see some case studies of success stories on my site as well. For more information about the charities where I am on the Board and volunteer -- go to Children of the City and the Joe DiMaggio Committee for Xaverian High School.