We believe that addressing the achievement gap is primarily a moral issue. It’s about what kind of society we want to live in, what kind of future we want for our country’s kids.
A new study from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth highlights a more prosaic justification for working to make education more equitable: boosting economic growth.
The study, described in this New York Times article, shows that moving up just a few notches in the OECD education rankings would increase U.S. GDP by 1.7% over the next 35 years—resulting in an additional $900 billion in government revenue that would make up for the cost of the investment many times over.
If we could match Canada's results, the increases would be an incredible 6.7% and $10 trillion, respectively!
You’d think numbers like these would make getting serious about the achievement gap a no-brainer.
We already think a willingness to ignore it shows a lack of heart.