Will U.S. Schools Drag Us Down?

Politicians tend to underestimate and to undervalue societal benefits that come far in the future, and this is particularly problematic with schools.  Even though the economic benefits of improving growth through better schools far exceed the benefits from short run macro policies, the latter receives much more attention.  In this talk, the returns to improved schools are described, and these returns are related to a variety of possible school reform policies.

Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He has been a leader in the development of economic analysis of educational issues, and his work has frequently entered into the design of both national and international educational policy. His research includes the impacts of teacher quality, high stakes accountability, and class size reduction on achievement and the role of cognitive skills in international growth and development. His pioneering analysis measuring teacher quality through student achievement forms the basis for current research into the value-added of teachers and schools.

He is chairman of the Executive Committee for the Texas Schools Project at the University of Texas at Dallas, a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education. He currently serves as chair of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences and is the area coordinator for Economics of Education of the CESifo Research Network. He has written numerous books and articles in the field of education.

He previously held academic appointments at the University of Rochester, Yale University, and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Government service includes being Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Senior Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, and Senior Economist at the Cost
of Living Council. He has been appointed to a variety of policy commissions.