What do culture wars cost our schools?

Our public schools and students are on the front lines of a culture war that includes book bans, attacks on LGBTQ+ kids, and restricting lessons on race and racism.

Parents are asking: What do these culture war issues cost us? We don’t just mean what they cost in terms of the effect on the mental health of our kids. Or the toll they take on teachers and school leaders. We want to know: What is the financial cost of these culture wars?

According to a recent report – “The Costs of Conflict, The Fiscal Impact of Culturally Divisive Conflicts on Public Schools in the United States,” – the 2023-2024 school year culture wars cost public schools 3.2 billion dollars.

Where does this money go? When school districts become the center of culture wars, the school board is forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees, increased security, communications efforts, community and government relations, and recruitment of teachers due to high staff turnover rates.

For an average school district of 10,000 students, districts fighting culture wars spend an average of $812,000 in one year.

Here are some more findings from the report:

• Of the 467 schools included in the study, two-thirds are experiencing “culturally-divisive conflict”
• More than 300 bills were introduced at the state level between 2021 and 2024 to restrict teaching about race and racism, to enable book bans, and to shape policies regarding access to educational opportunities for LGBTQ+ youth.
• 29% of superintendents report losing teachers due to culture wars, meaning schools are losing good teachers and having to spend additional funding to recruit new teachers.

Mainstream parents don’t want their schools stuck in culture war fights. These culture wars distract from real issues and impact student learning.

Imagine what our public school districts could do with an extra 3.2 billion dollars a year? They could hire more counselors and teachers for schools, upgrade supplies and technology, provide more nutritious meals for all students, and give all kids more opportunities to discover their passions and prepare for the 21st century.