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Among all the arguments about public education, its role as a job creator gets overlooked.

August 19, 2022

3 Min Read
Young student doing math problem on chalkboard with teacher observing
RETURN ON INVESTMENT: Public schools are our way of ensuring that future generations that succeed us in business and industry will have the tools they need for success. It’s the greatest opportunity for individual economic advancement we have to offer. But too many people forget that our school districts are economic drivers themselves in our rural communities.STEEX /Getty images

A lot has been said in the news about public schooling lately. From book bans, to curriculum challenges, to student safety and staffing shortages, our public schools are facing unprecedented challenges.

And among all the conversations regarding our public education system, there’s one that doesn’t get a lot of attention. But we out here in rural school districts know. Public school districts are vital economic drivers for rural communities.

Economic boost

I know it may sound crass to look at the return on investment into our public education system. After all, the goal is to invest in the education of our young people so they have brighter futures than we had ourselves.

But anyone in economic development will tell you that communities rely on schools as economic drivers.

Let’s just look at a 1A school district here in Kansas, shall we? In Kansas, we classify our school districts according to their high school enrollment figures. So, a 1A school would have about 100 to 175 students enrolled in ninth to 12th grades.

Now, in that generic 1A high school, we can have anywhere from 50 to 70 adult staff members, who include teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, office professionals, cooks, maintenance staff, librarians, counselors, principals and administrators, bus drivers and coaches. Their salaries can range from a low of $25,000 for classified personnel, to a high of $90,000 or $100,000 for administration. That single generic 1A high school can have total expenditures of $1.6 million in one year. (By the way, the Wichita public school district’s operating budget was about $970 million for the most recent school year.)

Circulating dollars

Where does that money go?

Instruction, student support, administration and support, lead the list, of course. Those expenditures directly affect students in the classroom and the daily operations of the district in general.

But we’re also directly spending locally on transportation, maintenance, capital improvements, food services, and local banking. Our buses need parts, our cafeterias need milk, and there’s always a need for HVAC or electrical technicians in our buildings. Those goods and services are purchased in our communities from our neighbors.

But let’s also look at the power of that dollar in the hands of those employees of the school district. They’re buying groceries and fuel at our stores in town. They’re purchasing insurance from local agents for their cars and houses. They may have a home and a couple of car loans at the local bank.

And if they’re one of the hundreds of farming spouses working in public education, they’re very likely carrying the family living expenses and the family insurance through their employment.

So in our generic 1A school district, that $1.6 million has the potential to make massive ripples in the community’s economic pool.

The return

Now, I know the concept of funding public education in our state has been a bone of contention for the agricultural community the last 20 years. Property taxes are a huge expenditure for everyone, I know.

And there’s a segment of our neighbors who don’t agree with public education and choose to enroll their children in private schools, or educate them at home. That’s their choice.

But the point of a public school district is to provide a base educational opportunity for all young people, regardless of their socioeconomic class. We know that high school graduates will earn an average of $4 billion more during their careers than nongraduates, according to the Kansas Center for Economic Growth. They save our state money, too, because they find more opportunities for employment, saving the state $111 million in food or housing assistance. They maintain better health, saving about $1.5 billion in public health dollars. And as those graduates avoid the criminal justice system, that saves our state about $985 million in criminal justice expenditures.

Simply put, each dollar invested in our public schools returns $2.62, and builds our economy, according to KCEG.

If you ask me, that’s worth us putting a little effort into growing our public education system here in Kansas. Let’s do what we can to support our local public schools — and the teachers and staff who are so vital to our hometowns.     

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