Fun Facts About School

There are a lot of fun back to school facts, such as which state has the largest gymnasiums in their schools, and how much money teachers make on average. The following is a look at some fun school facts that can make back to school more interesting:

Fact one: People who work in schools do not get paid very well. This is no secret, but it is a fun fact for kids to know that bus drivers tend to make about $16.56 an hour on average, cafeteria workers $11.60, and custodians about $14.20. Of course, principles and teachers make more than this. On average in the US teachers make about $50,758, and principals earned $97,486 for public schools in the US.

Fact two: People may not love school, but lots of people go to school. In fact, over 78 million kids, teens, and adults enroll in school each year. There are over 7.2 million teachers not to mention aides and other school staff to help meet the needs of public education.

Fact three: Schools greatly vary in size. The largest high school in America has about 8,000 students. It is a co-op, and the East Campus has 6,000 students. It is Morton High School, and is found in Illinois.

Fact four: School has changed over time. Some of the most significant changes have to do with who goes to school, and how much schooling people get. Until reformers like Horace Mann of Massachusetts and Henry Barnard of Connecticut began to push for tax-funded schools only the very wealthy ever got an education. In the 1840s the belief that universal education would improve society by producing better citizens, unite society, prevent crime and end poverty helped take Thomas Jefferson’s ideas of education and put them into place. However, even after that, it wasn’t until the 1930s that people got more education then about eight years. Some people got higher education, but High School did not exist until the Great Depression. During this time, the job-strapped communities decided it would be to their advantage to keep teenagers in class and out of the workforce where they would be a low-cost competition to adults.

Fact five: People move and change schools. This is one of the reasons curriculums are somewhat standardized, over 26% of elementary age kids change schools at least once, and 42% of 12-17 year olds do. So, in order to fill in gaps, and make sure that you can switch schools without big holes in your education there are standard things taught each year.

A few other fun facts that have to do with school are as follows:

• Indiana has 9 of the 10 largest high school gyms in America.
• In California, 45% of kids enrolled in school speak something other than English at home.
• 6% if kids age 6-11 repeat a grade at least once.
• 11% of kids 12-17 repeat at least once grade.
• 67% of kids like school.
• The average college student pays over $14,000 a year in tuition and books.