The pressing issues in education facing schools and students today

About half of the United States’ adult population say that the country’s K-12 public-school education system is headed in the “wrong direction.” An overwhelming majority of school teachers (82%) say that the overall state of K-12 education has gone downhill in the past five years. When it comes to pursuing college education, only 47% of Americans think it is worth it.

These sentiments reflect the serious scrutiny of the U.S. education system sparked by recent policy shifts that have affected the quality of education and well-being of students.  

Learn about the current top education issues facing Americans today to help you be a helpful advocate for change.

Education statistics in the U.S.

The following results from surveys of educators, students, and the general public reflect some of the top concerns with the U.S. education system today.

• 52% of American adults believe that the public school system is underfunded which leads to problems of poor academic performance.
• 48% of K-12 teachers say that their students perform either poorly or fairly in the classroom. About one-third say their performance is good. Only 17% say that the academic performance of their students is very good or excellent. 
• 49% of K-12 teachers say the behavior of most students at their school is fair or poor, while 35% say it’s good, and 13% say it’s excellent or very good.
• About 82% of college students are concerned about their personal safety, whereas over more than half are extremely concerned.

Top funding-related education challenges

Parents, students, and teachers across the U.S. are sounding the alarm about the $189.5 billion in federal funding to K-12 education coming to an end. This pandemic-era funding, also known as the Elementary and Secondary School Relief (ESSER) fund, was introduced in 2020 to support states, schools, and students to address educational crises.

ESSER funds were allocated to the 16,000 school districts across the country to provide crucial support in teacher-student mentorship, mental health, school infrastructure, and staff retention. It had a special focus on improved outcomes for lower-income students. This loss of federal funding in education and its projected impact on student performance and teacher retention has become a part of a larger national conversation.

School closures

Public school closures have become a nationwide phenomenon due to the recent budget cuts in education. A drop in student enrollments, combined with the high operating costs associated with maintaining school infrastructure and facilities are a big burden on the budget that states allocate to school districts. 

These are leading factors in the push to close schools. Rochester in New York, for example, announced in October 2024 that it would shut 11 schools and 5 buildings. Similarly, Los Angeles County plans to close five schools by the end of 2025.

How can we prevent school closures?

• Identify where ESSER funds were spent outside education and see how federal dollars from those programs could be directed to the  K-12 system. Mississippi’s telehealth initiative and Indiana’s career pathway program, for example, were both established with ESSER funds. Money from these funds could be potentially used to support public schools.

Enrollment declines

The pandemic-era heralded a new issue of a nationwide decline in K-12 school enrollments. The most significant enrollment declines took place between 2019-2022. Enrollment declines stood at 2.3% and affected 39 U.S. states with the urban centers of California, New York, and Mississippi hit the hardest. 

The reasons for enrollment declines vary. Some include parents pulling their children out of public schools in favor of private schools and moving away from urban areas hit by inflation.   

Loss of after school programs 

As ESSER funds dry out, schools will struggle to offer the afterschool and summer programs that once brought academic and intellectual enrichment to students. This is particularly concerning for lower-income school districts whose students benefited from these programs. 

Port Arthur Independent School District in Texas received $43 million in federal funding to support programs where students could learn about robots, skydiving, and photography. This is a loss for the school district which has a large Black and Hispanic community and where 84.6% of the students are economically disadvantaged. 

Similarly, loss in federal funding has led to the closure of an afterschool program in Chiltern County, Alabama, affecting 500 children. The program was created to support students in kindergarten through the sixth grade to help them catch up with school if they fell behind during the pandemic. State taxes aren’t sufficient to provide the $2.5 million required to run these programs.

How can local school boards facilitate after school clubs?

• Local school board members are there to look after the well-being of their community’s children. They can push for or play a role in asking the state to prioritize the intellectual development of its students by allocating funds for various activities, classes, and excursions.

Top safety-related education issues

Violence in educational institutes is a grim part of American reality. This often takes shape in the form of school shootings, sexual assault on college campuses, and a recent crackdown on dissent in colleges where police intervened. 

Mass shootings in schools and college campuses

Schools and college campuses are a hot spot for gun violence. Here are some of the recent gun-violence related figures.  

• There have been 58 school shootings in the U.S. as of October 15, 2024. 
• Forty-four mass shootings took place in K-12 schools, while 14 were on college campuses. 
• Statistics show that 28 people were killed and 72 were injured as a result of gun violence in schools.
• 2022 saw the highest number of shootings in many years, with 46 dead. 

In 2022, the deadliest shooting took place in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas which resulted in the death of 19 students and two teachers. Many petitions on Change.org address  putting an end to gun violence in schools and keeping students and adults safe in academic spaces

Sexual assault and gender-based violence on college campuses

Sexual assault and gender-based violence are a troubling, yet common part of the American college experience. Latest data reveals that 11,582 sexual assault cases were reported in the U.S. in 2021.  

According to a recent survey, about 48.7% of women from undergraduate and graduate programs reported they were sexually harassed, assaulted, or a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV). As for men, 17.9% of graduate or undergraduate students reported sexual misconduct. 

These statistics represent the tip of the iceberg as many sexual misconduct cases go unreported due to victims feeling embarrassment, hurt, shame, or unsafe. As a result, safety remains a deeply important issue on college campuses. After a female student at the University of Georgia (UGA) student was murdered in February 2024, a Change.org petition was successful in pushing UGA to install emergency blue lights.

Arrests on college campuses

Students that led pro-Palestinian protests across college campuses sparked a series of mass arrests. The crackdown on dissent began on April 18 at Columbia University where 108 student protestors were arrested by the police. Since then, more than 3,000 students and staff have been arrested. 

This has led prospective students feeling skeptical about attending college, specifically international students who are on an F-1 or student visa. Fears among international students grew after a graduate student at Cornell was arrested in September and risks deportation in September.   

Chronic absenteeism

Chronic absenteeism is a major problem in public schools. About 61% of high school teachers say this is a big issue where they teach. By comparison, 46% of middle school teachers and 43% of elementary school teachers say the same. Some of the reasons why students miss school include barriers to attendance or not being able to attend school due to obligations at home, academic difficulties, and bullying.

Student mental health

Students in K-12 public schools as well as colleges suffer from poor mental health. About 69% of high school teachers and 57% of middle school teachers say this is a major problem among their students, compared with 29% of elementary school teachers. For college students, two in five said their mental health affects their academic performance, with one in 10 rating their mental health as “poor.”

How can we make our students feel better?

• Establish a robust mental health plan in schools with counselors and therapists to help with students going through various mental health crises.
• Sign Change.org petitions that target the issue of mental health across schools to raise awareness and encourage decision makers to act.

Teacher shortages

About 50 American states have reported teacher shortages in at least one school district in the 2022-2023 school year. Poor working conditions including overworking educators and inadequate wages are just some of the reasons for teacher attrition.

A survey shows that 70% of teachers complain about not being paid a living wage, while 78% have expressed a desire to quit. In 2023, public school teachers in Texas reported their median salary, adjusted to inflation, was $5,000 lower than it was in 2020. This has also led to issues of dissatisfaction, and poor well-being among teachers.

There is also a widespread shortage in special education,  math, and science teachers. To deal with this shortage, schools have increased class sizes which has affected student teacher ratio and academic outcomes. 

Another study found that ESSER funds made it possible for the state of Washington to hire 5,100 public school teachers. Withdrawing these funds would mean that 5,100 teachers are at risk of losing their jobs. With these funds drying out, several states have announced layoffs. Texas’ Arlington School district has announced that 275 staff positions will be eliminated.

Curriculum conflict

States are divided on what should be taught in classrooms. In 2021, the prospect of Critical Race Theory (CRT) being taught in schools enraged a lot of parents and community members. CRT is a legal and academic theory that scholars have been using for several decades to explain how racial inequalities exist in society. 

Conversations on CRT bans were quickly followed by how gender and sexuality are taught at schools. At least 18 States and 150 school districts including Oklahoma and Florida have adopted CRT bans. Students have argued that not teaching critical race theory in schools is likely to isolate students who come from diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.

Poverty and college affordability

About 53% of K-12 teachers said that poverty is a common problem facing students. This has a negative impact on their performance at school. Some of the harmful outcomes of poverty among students include homelessness, non-nutritional diet, and restricted access to quality healthcare. Moreover, high school graduates worry that taking on student loans for college will put them in debt. At present, one-in-four adults under the age of 40 have student loan debt.

Bullying in schools

Bullying is a pervasive issue in the U.S. public school system which affects the physical and mental well-being of students and leads to issues of low self-esteem. As of 2021, a survey showed that about 19.2% of students between the ages of 12-18 were bullied at least once on school premises. 

Statistically, female students experience bullying more than male students, and only about 44% of students reported the bullying to an adult they trusted. The states with the biggest bullying problems include California, New Jersey, Alaska, Nevada, and Louisiana.

There are different types of bullying.

• In-school bullying: About 19% of students have admitted to being bullied in school. Bullying behavior includes physical and verbal violence including pushing, hitting, spreading rumors, or using racial or sexist epithets towards a student.
• Cyber-bullying: Cyber-bullying includes spreading rumors about someone, embarrassing photographs or any hurtful language about a classmate via text or on social media platforms. About 16% of high schoolers have admitted to being bullied on the Internet with girls being affected twice as more than boys.

How can we work towards a bully-free educational environment?

• Create a safe environment for students where they are able to share with their administration or trusted teacher if they are being bullied.
• Strengthen support groups for students who are bullied.
• Train students on the dangers of bullying and how it damages both the victim and perpetrator.
• Signing Change.org petitions that promote anti-bullying policies in schools.

Education for students with disabilities

Research shows that there are 7.3 million students in the K-12 system who are living with disabilities. These range from specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia or medical issues such as diabetes, which adversely affect how a child performs at school. 

Teacher shortage and the growing lack of certified instructors has put students with disabilities in a particularly disadvantaged spot. Across the U.S., 40% of public schools have said that it is very difficult to fill vacancies for special needs teachers.

The future of education in the United States

The future and potential of American children depends in large part to accessing a high-quality education. Better school resources and a safe learning environments will help students and teachers thrive.

Raising public awareness about the importance of these issues is crucial to improve them. You can help do that by starting a petition about an education issue that’s affecting you, your child, or your community.