Longer school days and school years are required to overcome the resulting inefficiencies. Progressively smaller pupil-teacher ratios are needed to accommodate the resulting differences in achievement and rates of progress. Progressively greater curricular overlap from grade to grade is needed to accommodate increasingly varied levels of entry-level skills. All of the above require the hiring of more teachers and other school personnel. In general, more of that which the average student used to learn in elementary school is now learned in high school, and more of that which was formerly learned in high school is now learned in college.
Colleges divert ever greater resources into remedial studies.
Taken together, these trends are resulting in increasing expenditures that produce little net change in academic achievement. If schools continue to ignore this relationship, they are on a collision course with reality. This message must be understood not just by parents, teachers, and students, but by those in positions of visibility and public leadership. For the most part, individuals who have distinguished themselves know that meaningful accomplishment in any endeavor takes hard work because they have worked hard themselves. Parents, teachers, and all others who work with young people can make a huge contribution to both their educational success and their lifelong habits by teaching them to put school work before pleasure.