The total cost of public education is often underestimated, and identifying exactly where the money is going is a tremendous challenge. The total cost of education includes all costs associated with educating students-operating and non-operating expenditures, the cost of state and regional personnel, and teacher pension costs.
Higher Education
Who Teaches the Teachers?
Every state requires public school teachers to be “certified,” and most of that certification runs through a university school of education. New research by TPPF’s Kate Bierly asks a simple question: is that credential actually worth anything? The answer, backed by decades of data, is no. Teacher training used to happen in “normal schools.” The practical, two-year...
July 23, 2026