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U.S. Education Statistics Compared to Other Countries

 Posted by  Education  376 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education regularly produces “The National Report Card on Higher Education.”

According to the report, the rates of college participation in the U.S. has declined relative to other countries. The U.S. ranked 2nd in college participation just over 10 years ago. Now, the U.S. ranks 7th among 29 compared countries.

Percent of adults, ages 35-64, holding an associates degree or higher

Percent of adults, ages 25-34, holding an associates degree or higher

Percent of young adults, ages 18-24, enrolled in college

The study also said the U.S. ranks 15th among the 29 countries compared in percentage of students completing college. “These low college completion rates-as with the declining rates of high school completion-are depriving the nation of college-educated and trained workers needed to keep the American workforce competitive globally.”

Number of certificates and degrees awarded per 100 students enrolled; therefore, the college completion, or graduatation, rate

The study also said that “the financial burden of paying for college costs has increased substantially, particularly for low- and middle-income families, even when scholarships and grants are taken into account.” A quintile is 20%; therefore, the lowest income quintile is the bottom 20% of earners, etc.

Net college costs as a percent of median family income

To read the entire report, along with previous years, click on http://www.highereducation.org/ and Measuring Up 2008.

U.S. Education Statistics Compared to South Korea and Other Countries

 Posted by  Education  410 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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David J. Lynch in USA Today in November 2008 reported:

  • 93% of all students graduate from high school in South Korea
  • A little over 75% of all students graduate from high school in the U.S.
  • “An experienced secondary-school teacher makes almost 25% more [in South Korea] than a comparable American teacher
  • The South Korean government spends more on education as a percentage to its economy than the U.S.
  • South Korean families spend three times more than U.S. families on K-12 education
  • South Koreans ranked second on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) math test
  • American kids finished 25th of 30 countries on the same PISA match exam

To read the entire article, click on USA could learn from South Korean schools.

Elaine Wu of The Kapi’o Newspress wrote an article in October of 2005. Mrs. Wu mentioned in a 2003 study conducted by UNICEF ranked the United States No. 18 out of 24 nations in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system. The study took averages from five different international education studies. To read the entire article, click on This link currently does not work.

U.S. Education Spending Compared to Other Countries

 Posted by  Education, Government Spending  1,111 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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Public direct expenditures for education as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), by country: 2003

Public direct expenditures for education as a percentage of the gross domestic product, by country: 2003

NOTE: Includes all government expenditures for education institutions, plus public subsidies to households for living costs that are not spent at education institutions.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Education at a Glance, 2006.

For additional information, click on National Center for Education Statistics.

State and Local Government Debt

 Posted by  Government Debt  282 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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The following chart shows U.S. State and Local Government Debt as a percentage to GDP, or to the economy. The data starts in 1902.

Click on the chart below to see an enlarged, clearer chart.

U.S. State and Local Government Debt as a Percentage to GDP

US State And Local Debt As Percentage Of GDP
Fiscal Years 1900 to 2009
Year GDP-US
$ billion		 Gross Public Debt -statelocal
pct GDP
1900 20.6 0.00
1901 22.3 0.00
1902 24.1 8.74 a
1903 25.9 8.70 i
1904 25.7 9.38 i
1905 28.8 8.95 i
1906 31 8.89 i
1907 33.9 8.70 i
1908 30.1 10.48 i
1909 32.2 10.48 i
1910 33.4 10.80 i
1911 34.3 11.25 i
1912 37.4 11.03 i
1913 39.1 11.29 a
1914 36.5 13.26 i
1915 38.7 13.71 i
1916 49.6 11.73 i
1917 59.7 10.69 i
1918 75.8 9.23 i
1919 78.3 9.79 i
1920 88.4 9.51 i
1921 73.6 12.53 i
1922 73.4 13.77 a
1923 85.4 12.79 i
1924 86.9 13.58 i
1925 90.6 14.07 i
1926 96.9 14.21 i
1927 95.5 15.58 a
1928 97.4 16.08 i
1929 103.6 15.91 i
1930 91.2 19.02 i
1931 76.5 23.86 i
1932 58.7 32.72 a
1933 56.4 33.81 i
1934 66 28.68 a
1935 73.3 26.20 i
1936 83.8 23.24 a
1937 91.9 21.17 i
1938 86.1 22.57 a
1939 92.2 21.54 i
1940 101.4 20.00 a
1941 126.7 15.64 i
1942 161.9 11.94 a
1943 198.6 9.27 i
1944 219.8 7.95 a
1945 223 7.49 i
1946 222.2 7.16 a
1947 244.1 7.08 i
1948 269.1 6.93 a
1949 267.2 8.00 i
1950 293.7 8.21 a
1951 339.3 7.99 i
1952 358.3 8.40 a
1953 379.3 8.91 a
1954 380.4 10.23 a
1955 414.7 10.67 a
1956 437.4 11.17 a
1957 461.1 11.50 a
1958 467.2 12.44 a
1959 506.6 12.65 a
1960 526.4 13.29 a
1961 544.8 13.77 a
1962 585.7 13.80 a
1963 617.8 13.77 a
1964 663.6 13.90 a
1965 719.1 13.84 a
1966 787.7 13.59 a
1967 832.4 13.65 a
1968 909.8 13.32 a
1969 984.4 13.57 a
1970 1038.3 13.83 a
1971 1126.8 14.11 a
1972 1237.9 14.14 a
1973 1382.3 13.60 a
1974 1499.5 13.80 a
1975 1637.7 13.43 a
1976 1824.6 13.21 a
1977 2030.1 12.81 a
1978 2293.8 12.21 a
1979 2562.2 11.86 a
1980 2788.1 12.05 a
1981 3126.8 11.64 a
1982 3253.2 12.45 a
1983 3534.6 12.87 a
1984 3930.9 12.85 a
1985 4217.5 13.48 a
1986 4460.1 14.77 a
1987 4736.4 15.17 a
1988 5100.4 14.80 a
1989 5482.1 14.56 a
1990 5800.5 14.84 a
1991 5992.1 15.28 a
1992 6342.3 15.38 a
1993 6667.4 15.21 a
1994 7085.2 15.17 a
1995 7414.7 15.04 a
1996 7838.5 14.92 a
1997 8332.4 14.66 a
1998 8793.5 14.60 a
1999 9353.5 14.64 a
2000 9951.5 14.59 a
2001 10286.2 15.11 a
2002 10642.3 12.61 a
2003 11142.1 16.27 a
2004 11867.8 16.44 a
2005 12638.4 16.50 a
2006 13398.9 16.43 a
2007 14077.6 17.12 a
2008 14441.4 17.66 a
2009 14258.2 18.90 g
Legend:
a – actual reported
i – interpolated between actual reported values
g – ‘guesstimated’ projection by usgovernmentspending.com

For additional data, click on usgovernmentspending.com.  For statistics on state and local government spending, click on State and Local Government Spending.

Is the U.S. a Christian Nation?

 Posted by  Religion  370 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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The Christian Party website says:

“The question begs then, did the Supreme Court recognize the United States as a Christian nation? Well, in 1892 the US Supreme Court made this ruling in a case. (Church of The Holy Trinity vs. The United States.) ‘No purpose of action against religion can be imputed to any legislation, state or national, because this is a religious people. This is a Christian nation.’

To read the entire article, click on Building a Nation.

Archiving Early America discusses the same ruling:

“In the Supreme Court’s 1892 Holy Trinity Church vs. United States, Justice David Brewer wrote that ‘this is a Christian nation.’ Many Christians use this as evidence. However, Brewer wrote this in dicta, as a personal opinion only and does not serve as a legal pronouncement. Later Brewer felt obliged to explain himself: ‘But in what sense can [the United States] be called a Christian nation? Not in the sense that Christianity is the established religion or the people are compelled in any manner to support it. On the contrary, the Constitution specifically provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’ Neither is it Christian in the sense that all its citizens are either in fact or in name Christians. On the contrary, all religions have free scope within its borders. Numbers of our people profess other religions, and many reject all.’

To read the entire article, click on Christian Sources.

American Vision did a reprint of David J. Brewer’s book (David J. Brewer. Philadelphia, Penn.: John C. Winston, Co., 1905; reprint Atlanta, Ga. American Vision, 1996.) The book comprises a series of three lectures, including the quotes above from the Christian Party website and Archiving Early America website. As Archiving Early America mentioned, the quotes are not from official Supreme Court rulings. In addition, David J. Brewer’s father was a Christian missionary. Daniel L. Dreisbach from the Journal of Church and State mentioned a couple of passages from David. J. Brewer’s book:

  • “American citizens, in short, are under no obligation to conform to Christian institutions and ordinances (p. 38).”
  • “Given Christianity’s salutary influence, he concluded, every citizen and the nation as a whole has a duty to uphold and extend its influence (p. 44).”

To read the entire article, click on The United States: A Christian Nation.

Americans’ Beliefs on Founding Fathers, Christianity, and Religion

 Posted by  Religion  278 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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Andrea Stone in USA Today in September 2007 reported that “Most Americans believe the nation’s founders wrote Christianity into the Constitution.” To read the entire article, click on Most think founders wanted Christian USA.

John Derbyshire in the National Review Online in November 2003 reported the following:

“Polled responses to the statement: ‘Religion plays a very important role in my life.’ Nearly 60 percent of Americans responded affirmatively. The corresponding figures for other nations were: Britain – 33; Italy – 27; Germany – 21; France – 11. Among postindustrial non-Muslim nations, and ignoring one or two outliers like Buddhist Thailand, we are probably the most-religious people in the world.”

To read the article entire, click on The Last Christian Nation.

The Jefferson Bible

 Posted by  Religion  500 Responses »
Oct 082010
 
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Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times in July 2008 reported the following:

“In a letter sent from Monticello to John Adams in 1813, Jefferson said his ‘wee little book’ of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of inquiry and reflection and contained ‘the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.’ He called the book ‘The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.’ Friends dubbed it the Jefferson Bible.”

To read the article entire, click on A Founding Father’s view of God.

R.P. Nettelhorst of the Quartz Hill School of Theology said the following:

“Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the gospels; he was uncomfortable with any reference to miracles, so with two copies of the New Testament, he cut and pasted them together, excising all references to miracles, from turning water to wine, to the resurrection.”

His entire article can be found on Notes on the Founding Fathers and the Separation of Church and State. In addition, The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth may still be purchased at bookstores today.

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