Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Looking to the Future

  • By Jerry Enderle
  • 05/01/18

Eight Years From Now

In early April, the National Center for Education Statistics released their annual Projections of Education Statistics report. They have been releasing these reports since 1964, which makes this the 45th edition. Each report extends the projections by a year. The most recent projections are for 2026, with a starting point of 2014, because that is the last year of actual public school data.

In the fall of 2014, total public and private elementary and secondary school enrollment was 56 million. It is expected to increase by three percent by 2026. The report states that the increases will take place in the South and West (21 of those states by five percent or more), while the Midwest and Northeast, as many as 10 states will experience a decrease of five percent or more by 2026.

An encouraging projection is that expenditures for public elementary and secondary education are expected to increase 19 percent between the 2013-14 and 2026-27 school years. And, expenditures per pupil are expected to increase from their 2014 level of $11,200 by 15 percent in 2026 to $12,900. The report does go on to state that factors such as changes in policy initiatives and a shift in economic growth could affect these projections. Let’s hope these projections come true. You can read the entire report at nces.ed.gov.

Teacher Strikes

Most of us agree that teachers do not receive the pay they deserve. What started out recently as teacher protests about pay has, in most states morphed into something broader, overall education spending. Whether you agree with the teachers, or their methods, the fact that these events have made the issue of education funding a relevant and more prominent issue for national discussion is, in my opinion, a positive development. Elected officials have been given an extraordinary opportunity to discuss changes that would be good for kids, fair to teachers, and have a positive effect on the future.

A reminder, you can follow me on Twitter, @SPM_editor, and you are always welcome to contact me with your thoughts and ideas at [email protected].

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Florida District Completes Construction on New Leadership Institute

    Pinellas County Schools near Tampa, Fla., recently announced that construction is complete on the new Dr. Michael A. Grego Leadership Institute, according to a news release. The district partnered with Rowe Architects for the project’s design and with Skanska for construction services.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • Moline-Coal Valley School District to Consolidate Two Schools into New Facility

    The Moline-Coal Valley School District in Moline, Ill., recently broke ground on a new elementary school that will consolidate the students and staff from two existing schools, according to local news. Robert Ontiveros Elementary School will serve as the new home for Lincoln-Irving Elementary School and Willard Elementary School.