American Education in 2030: Only if Past Trends Persist Is the Future Dismal

Simple extrapolations of current trends suggest that public education costs will rise sharply, pupil-teacher ratios will fall, and control over the education system will shift from families and localities to higher levels of government. Courts and collective bargaining agreements will also gain in influence. Meanwhile, high school graduation rates will fall, and learning will stagnate. Fortunately, those trends will be disrupted by an enormous rate of change in curriculum design and information dissemination made possible by technological innovation.