The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation

8/3/2019 The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation

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The Middle Class Is Keyto a Better-Educated Nation

A Stronger Middle Class Is Associatedwith Better Educational Outcomes

David Madland and Nick Bunker November 2011

www.americanprogressaction.o


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The Middle Class Is Keyto a Better-Educated NationA Stronger Middle Class Is Associated

with Better Educational Outcomes

David Madland and Nick Bunker November 2011


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1 Introduction and summary

4 The academic research

4 Linking a strong middle class to better education

6 Why a strong middle class boosts achievement

6 School-funding connections

7 Nonschool-funding connections

9 Results

11 Conclusion

12 Appendix

12 Data

13 Models

17 About the authors

18 Endnotes

Contents


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1 c am pg a Fu |t Ml cl i Ky B -eu n

Introduction and summary

Educaion is key o Americas economic success as echnological change and

global compeiion increase exponenially. Unorunaely, where once our naion

was aop he world academically, oday American sudens rank in he middle o

he pack. Fieen counries now have higher college graduaion raes han us, and

our average es scores are lower han hose o no jus peer counries bu also less-

wealhy places such as Slovenia and Poland.1

No surprisingly, business leaders and he American public are concerned abouhe qualiy o American educaion.2 Tere are myriad proposals abou how o

improve he U.S. educaion sysem. Ye a criical bu oen overlooked reason or

our poor educaional achievemen is he decline o he American middle class

over he pas our decades.

America oday is less o a middle-class sociey as he wealhy capure mos o he

economys gains. Te op 1 percens share o income reached 23.5 percen in

2007, he las year beore he Grea Recession, up rom 9.12 percen in 1974. Over

his same ime period, he share o income going o he middle class, dened as

he middle 60 percen o he populaion, ell o 46.9 percen rom 52.2 percen,

and he share o income going o he botom 20 percen sayed a roughly 3 per-

cen, declining by less han 1 percenage poin.3

When poor and lower-income Americans can work heir way ino he middle

class, and when he middle class sees is share o income shrinking, ha harms our

naions educaional achievemen in several ways. Socieies wih a srong middle

class make greaer invesmens in educaionas described in deail and quani-

ed in our companion repor, Middle Class Socieies Inves More in Public

Educaionand all else being equal, higher levels o spending end o booseducaional perormance.4

A he amily level, people living in srong middle-class socieies are more likely o

ge involved in making heir childrens schools beter, pushing o raise educaional
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sandards, and puting pressure on school adminisraors o re or ranser bad

eachers.5 And some o he culure and behaviors ha middle-class parens pass on

o heir children abou educaion, such as valuing school achievemen and atend-

ing school, are hough o come rom heir middle posiion in sociey wih a level

o income and securiy ha makes hem neiher rich nor poor.6 All o his helps

boos educaional achievemen. Whas more, in more middle-class socieies,ciizensrich, poor, and middle class alikeend o be healhier and healhier

sudens do beter academically.7

Finally, expecaions or educaional perormance can have a signican impac on

educaional oucomes. Socieies someimes have lower expecaions or hose a

he botom o he economic specruman eec ha may be more pronounced

in socieies wih a weaker middle class.8 In conras, socieies ha expec everyone

o excel in school i given he opporuniy boas more sudens doing beter and

going ono college.9

o quaniy he impac o he middle class on educaional achievemen, we exam-

ined mah scores in all 50 saes beween 2003, he rs year daa on all saes are

available, and 2009, he mos recen year complee daa are available. We ound

ha a weaker middle class is associaed wih signicanly lower levels o mah per-

ormance. Our resuls held even when conrolling or a hos o oher acors ha

aec oucomes, such as he saes income level, childhood povery raes, and he

percenage o sudens who are English language learners.

Our resuls indicae ha a sronger middle class is associaed wih higher es

scores, separae and above any eecs o povery, overall income levels, and he

percenage o non-English speakers. In shor, he middle-classness o a sae

direcly inuences is educaional achievemen.

Specically, we ound ha each percenage poin increase in he share o income

going o he middle class is associaed wih an increase o 0.69 poins on he

Naional Assessmen o Educaional Progress composie scale or mah.

Our sudy suggess ha i he middle class received he same share o income as i

did in he 1960sapproximaely 7 percenage poins morehen he median sae,which had a mah score o 284 in 2009, would have a score 4.83 poins higher oday.

I jus a single saeor example, Florida, which currenly ranks 16h rom he bo-

om on sandardized essboosed is middle-class income share by 7 percenage

In more middle-

class societies,

citizensrich,

poor, and midd

class aliketen

to be healthier

and healthier

students do bet

academically.


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poins, he resuls sugges ha is scores would rise o he level o he saes wih he

median scoreDelaware, Iowa, and Norh Carolina in 2009.

o pu his in conex, a $20,000 increase in a saes gross domesic produc per

capiahe commonly used measure o a saes income levelresuls in abou an

eigh-poin increase in mah scores. Such an increase in per capia GDP would beabou he same increase he Unied Saes experienced beween 1967 and 2009.

In he pages ha ollow, we will presen he array o academic research on his

opic ha suppors he premise o our paper, and hen deail he school and

nonschool uncions ha a srong middle class suppors in our educaion sysem

and our sociey. We urn nex in he paper o he specic resuls o our analysis,

which nd ha a sronger American middle class is associaed wih higher levels

o academic achievemen.


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The academic research

Linking a strong middle class to better education

A signican body o academic research nds ha counries wih lower levels o

economic inequaliy do beter academically han counries wih greaer levels o

economic inequaliy.10 Tis research ends o examine reading, mah, or science

scores on sandardized ess, nding ha on average sudens in more equal coun-

ries have higher es scores.

Imporanly, his research nds ha a more equal income disribuion booss he

perormance o all sudens, no jus hose a he botom. Te poor may bene

mos rom being in a more egaliarian sociey, bu hose a he op also bene.

Dennis Condron, an Emory Universiy sociologis, nds ha more economicallyequal counries acually have higher percenages o very highly skilled sudens

han do less egaliarian counries.11 Similarly, Richard Wilkinson, a Universiy o

Notingham proessor, and Kae Picket o he Universiy o York argue in Te

Spirit Level ha lower levels o economic inequaliy increase academic peror-

mance, even or sudens wih high socioeconomic saus.12

Te lieraure linking inequaliy and academic perormance generally conrols

or a counrys income level as well as or a hos o oher acors ha also inu-

ence es scores. Some o hese sudies also conrol or he povery level in a

counry.13 By conrolling or oal income and povery levels, as well as oher

acors, he academic lieraure on counry-level educaional achievemen makes

a compelling case ha he relaive disribuion o income in a sociey aecs

educaional perormance.

Research a he suden and school level has also come o similar conclusions,

nding ha middle-class sudens and schools end o have, or example, higher

es scores, lower dropou raes, and beter academic and career achievemens in

he uure.14 Many o hese sudies also conrol or income and povery levels.

In shor, he empirical lieraure srongly suggess ha he middle-classness o a

sociey aecs educaional oucomes, hough he research does no oen direcly

examine he impac o he middle class, insead ocusing on oher measures o

inequaliy. Similarly, many o he heoreical argumens made by researchers abou


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unequal socieies are also likely o be relevan o he eecs on he middle class,

hough hey are no always made direcly abou he middle class.

Tis is especially rue because over he pas ew decades in he Unied Saes and

oher advanced counries, changes in inequaliy are largely abou he rich pulling

away rom no jus he poor bu also (and especially) he middle class. Te middleclass and he poor boh experienced relaive income decreases ha are signican

compared o he op, bu he decline in he relaive share o income going o he

middle class is especially sark.

In he Unied Saes rom 1979 o 2007, as he share o naional income going

o he op 1 percen increased by more han 14 percenage poins, he share o

income going o he middle 60 percen declined by 4.7 percenage poins, com-

pared o a decline o jus 0.7 percenage poins or he botom 20 percen.15 Te

same rend is also apparen inernaionally. Te share o income going o he

rich rose dramaically in a number o developed counries, including he UniedKingdom, Ausralia, and Canada, largely a he expense o heir middle class.16

In shor, he rends driving inequaliy are largely because o runaway incomes a he

op, which disanced he rich rom he res o sociey and weakened he middle class.

Tis sudy builds on exising research o argue ha a srong middle class booss

educaional achievemen in U.S. saes. We are aware o only one oher sudy ha

examines sae-level inequaliy and is eec on educaional achievemen. Tis sudy

nds ha inequaliy reduces es scores, hough he analysis does no conrol or

oher acors ha are commonly ound o impac es scores, such as income.17

Because he economic lieraure on his opic nds income disribuion eecs

academic achievemen a he counry, school, and individual levels, we have srong

expecaions ha a sronger middle class is very likely o also boos educaional

perormance in U.S. saes.18


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Why a strong middle class

boosts achievement

Te reasons why middle-class socieies have beter educaional oucomes end o

all ino wo broad caegories: school-unding explanaions and nonschool-und-

ing explanaions. Researchers someimes emphasize one accoun over he oher

bu generally nd ha boh are a play. Les look a each in urn.

School-funding connections

Counries and saes wih srong middle classes end o spend more on educaion

and, all else being equal, higher levels o spending end o lead o higher levels oachievemen.19 As described a lengh in our companion repor, Middle Class

Socieies Inves More in Public Educaion, middle-class socieies inves more in

public goods such as educaion because he economic uure o he middle class

is more closely ied o he qualiy o public educaion han is he economic uure

o he rich. And a srong middle class boass he poliical power o push or heir

desired level o unding. Furhermore, middle-class socieies are more rusing o

people hey don knowand rus increases all peoples suppor or spending on

public educaion ha hey may no direcly bene rom.

o be sure, here is much room o improve he efciency o curren levels o

educaion spending.20 Bu all else being equal, higher levels o spending lead o

improved oucomes.21

Imporanly, here is good reason o expec ha increased spending rom a sron-

ger middle class would be spen in ways ha boos achievemen. Middle-class

socieies end o spend governmen money more efcienly han unequal socie-

ies, wih less wase, raud, and abuse.22 And researchers also nd ha more equal

counries spend heir educaion resources more equiably, ensuring mos sudens

have sufcien resources, no jus he privileged.23
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Nonschool-funding connections

Tere are numerous nonschool-unding explanaions or why middle-class socie-

ies have higher levels o academic achievemen. Te reasons range rom more

engaged parens o increased levels o public healh o higher expecaions.

Consider rs, he eors o middle-class parens in pushing or higher academic

sandards and puting pressure on adminisraors o re or ranser bad eachers

booss educaional achievemen.24

Because paying or privae school imposes a much greaer, and someimes impos-

sible, hardship on middle-class amilies han i does on he wealhy, he middle

class has an especially srong incenive o inves heir ime and energy o make

public schools work. In addiion, in more equal socieies, people are more likely o

hink heir acions can make a dierence and hus are more likely o paricipae in

poliical aciviies such as voluneering o improve a school.25

As a resul, people living in middle-class socieies are more likely o ge involved

o make heir childrens schools beter, while people living in unequal socieies are

more likely o remain on he sidelines. As America became less o a middle-class

sociey, poliical paricipaion signicanly decreased.26 Indeed, membership in

Paren eacher Associaions, a predominanly middle-class organizaion, declined

dramaically as he middle class declined in he Unied Saes.27

Ten heres he quesion o ime. As incomes or he rich rise rapidly and wages

sagnae or he middle class, many middle-class Americans have had o signi-

canly increase heir hours o workin large par by women moving ino he paid

workorcewhich reduces he ime and energy Americans have or voluneering

o improve heir childrens schools.28

More equal socieies also end o be healhier. Te rich, poor, and middle class all

end o be healhier in more middle-class socieies.29 In conras, inequaliy can

harm public healh in several ways, specically by:

Reducing invesmen in public healh eors30

Undermining social cohesion and neworks31

Causing rusraion and work sress ha leads o reduced healh32

Tis is a major problem because healhier sudens score beter on sandardized ess.

Research by Phillip B. Levine and Diane Schanzenbach, economiss a Wellesley

In more equal

societies, people

are more likely

to think their

actions can mak

a diference and

thus volunteer t

improve a schoo


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College and Norhwesern Universiy respecively, nd ha children who are

healhier score higher on he Naional Assessmen o Educaional Progress ess.33

Culural expecaions may also be

dened by he size o a naions

middle class. Socieies someimeshave lower educaional expeca-

ions or hose a he botom o

he economic specrum.34 And

socieys expecaions or edu-

caional perormance can have

a signican impac on achieve-

men.35 As he rich pulled away

rom he poor and especially he

middle class over he pas several

decades, he social disances arenow greaer, which could make

elie expecaions especially low

or he poor and middle class.36

Finally, some o he culure and

behaviors ha middle-class

parens pass on o heir children

abou educaion are hough o

come rom he unique economic

posiion o he middle class. Unlike he rich, he middle class has more o an eco-

nomic need o work or a living and hus values educaion or is poenial economic

reurns. Ye unlike he poor, he middle class has greaer economic resources o delay

graicaion and make invesmens in human capial.37 Tese middle-class values

and behaviors, such as valuing school achievemen and atending school, promoe

educaional achievemen.38 In especially unequal socieies, people on he botom

end may be more likely o rejec hese values and develop an opposiional culure or

lose heir sense o conrol over heir desiny i hey don see a clear pah o success.39

In sum, here are a number o ways in which a srong middle class migh beexpeced o increase educaional oucomes. Figure 1 demonsraes how his

dynamic plays ou in a sae-by-sae evaluaion o a srong middle class and beter

educaional oucomes.

We urn now o an analysis o he daa ha underpins his char.

FIGURE 1

States with stronger middle classes have better education outco

Scores on standardized tests are correlated with the share of income

going to the middle class

300

NY

MA

IL

CTTX

290

280

270

260

.44 .46

Middle-class share of state income

NAEP math scores

.48

FLKY

OK

LA

ALNM

AZ

AR

RI

WV NV

GA

HI

NH

WY

ND

MN

VT

KSSD

NJ

NCPA

COVAOH

ID

MODE

SC

NEINMEMDOR

MT

WIWA

IA

UT

MI

TN

CA

MS

Sources: Data are the averages o the data2007, 2005 and 2003.

The math scores are the composite score ior 8th grade students and are rom the NaAssessment o Education Progress.

The middle class share is the share o inco

to the middle 60 percent o the income dand the data are rom the Current Populatand the American Community Survey.


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Results

o examine he relaionship beween he middle class and educaional achieve-

men, we analyze sae sandardized mah es scores or eighh-grade sudens inall 50 saes rom 2003 o 2009, he rs year daa are available on all saes o he

mos recen year complee daa are available. We conrol or a range o variables

ha have been ound o aec educaional achievemen, including sae income

levels, sae childhood povery raes, and he share o sudens who are English

language learners. By conrolling or sae wealh and povery, as well as oher ac-

ors, we atemp o measure he eec o he middle-classness o a sae.

We nd a srong and saisically signican relaionship beween he srengh o

he middle class and mah scores. Addiional deails on our analysis are available

in he appendix. Our resuls are similar even when using dieren economericechniques, indicaing ha our resuls are quie robus.

In our main model, we nd ha a 1 percenage poin increase in he share o

income received by he middle class is associaed wih an increase o 0.69 poins

on he Naional Assessmen o Educaional Progress composie scale or mah.

Te median score on he mah es in 2009 was 284. Te relaionship is saisi-

cally signican a beyond he 5 percen level, meaning he resuls are unlikely o

occur by chance. (More deailed analysis o he daa is in he appendix.)

Our sudy suggess ha i he middle class received he same share o income as

i did in he 1960sapproximaely 7 percenage poins morehen he score

or mah would be 4.83 poins higher. I jus a single saeor example, Florida,

which currenly ranks 16h rom he botom on sandardized essboosed

is middle-class income share by 7 percenage poins, he resuls sugges ha

is scores would rise o he level o he saes wih he median scorecurrenly

Delaware, Iowa, and Norh Carolina. o pu his in conex, a $20,000 increase in

a saes gross domesic produc per capiaa commonly used measure o a saes

income levelresuls in abou an eigh-poin increase in mah scores. Such an

increase in per capia GDP would be abou he same increase in he Unied Saesexperienced beween 1967 and 2009.

For our oher conrol variables, resuls are consisen wih oher sudies and are

as expeced: We nd ha boh he percen o sudens who are English language

learners and childhood povery raes are associaed wih lower es scores.


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10 c am pg a Fu | t Ml cl i Ky B-eu n

As a urher es o he imporance o a srong middle class on educaional

achievemen, we also run a model ha conrols or educaion spending. In his

way, we are able o es wheher he middle class aecs educaional oucomes

hrough channels ouside o increased spending. Our main model accouns or all

he ways ha he middle class improves oucomes, while our second model shows

how he acors ouside o spending aec oucomes. In boh cases, he srengh ohe middle class is srongly correlaed wih educaional oucomes.

Specically, when we conrol or sae educaional spending as well as or sae

income and povery levels and he share o sudens who are English language

learners, we nd ha a 1 percenage poin increase in he share o income received

by he middle class is associaed wih an increase o 0.55 poins on he mah scale.

Tis resul is signican a he 5 percen level, again indicaing ha he resuls

are unlikely o occur by chance. Tis suggess ha a sronger middle class booss

achievemen hrough boh school-unding and nonschool-unding mechanisms.


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Conclusion

Our sudy uses daa rom all 50 saes and nds ha a sronger middle class is

associaed wih concree improvemens in educaional oucomes. A srongermiddle class is likely o lead o beter educaional oucomes by no only increas-

ing levels o spending bu also hrough oher means including healhier socieies,

more involvemen wih he educaional sysem, and srenghening middle-class

values. Improving Americas educaional sysem is no easy ask bu srenghening

he middle class is likely an imporan par o ha ask.


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Appendix

Data

Our dependen variable, and our measure o educaional atainmen, is hecomposie Naional Assessmen o Educaional Progress mah scale or eighh-

grade sudens. We also ran our models using daa or ourh-grade sudens and

ound similar resuls.40

Te scale is a composie index ha measures a sudens abiliy across several areas

wihin he subjec. Te mah scale covers knowledge o measuremen, geom-

ery, daa analysis, probabiliy, and algebra, and ranges rom 0 o 500.41 Te daa

are available or 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011, bu we only use 2003

hrough 2009. Te 2000 daa do no cover all 50 saes and our oher variables are

no updaed o 2011. For he 2009 daa he scores or mah ranged rom 265 o299 wih a sandard deviaion o 7.6 poins.

Our independen variable o ineres is he share o income going o he middle 60

percen o he income disribuion. We adop his deniion o he middle class

rom work on economic growh and he middle class by William Easerly.42 Tese

daa are rom he Curren Populaion Survey and he American Communiy

Survey. Noe ha using a similar deniion o he middle classhe share o

income going o he middle 20 percenproduced very similar resuls. Tese

deniions o middle class are similar because hey are boh aeced similarly by

he rise in income share going o he op. Te sandard deviaion o middle-class

share is 2.12 percenage poins. A one sandard deviaion increase in middle-class

share would ranslae ino a 1.46 poin increase on he NAEP scale.

We conrol or demographic eaures o a sae ha may aec educaional atain-

men: overall income levels, child povery levels, and he percenage o sudens

who are English language learners.

Wealhier socieies end o have beter educaional oucomes due o more avail-

able resources. Research ha compares educaional oucomes across counriesoen conrols or income level using naional GDP per capia as a conrol vari-

able.43 Accordingly, we accoun or sae income level in our regressions by

using sae GDP per capia as a conrol variable. Te daa are rom he Bureau o

Economic Analysis and are available or all he years in our analysis.


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In conras, we expec child povery levels and he percenage o sudens who are

English language learners o be negaively correlaed wih educaional atainmen

due o he higher concenraion o disadvanaged sudens.44 Sudies on educa-

ional oucomes commonly conrol or levels o povery and oher acors ha

impede academic achievemen.45 Our measure o childhood povery is he percen

o hose ages 17 and under who live in povery. Te daa are rom he CensusBureaus Small Area Income and Povery Esimaes. Te daa used o calculae he

percen o sudens who are English language learners is rom he Naional Cener

or Educaion Saisics. We used daa on he number o sudens who are learning

English and oal enrollmen o calculae he percenages.

We conrol or sae per-pupil educaion spending in one se o regressions. While

increased spending does no always resul in beter educaional atainmen, we

would expec ha spending is posiively correlaed wih oucomes.46 Including

spending in he regressions helps us conrm wheher he relaionship beween he

middle-class share o income and achievemen is no jus due o higher spendingby middle-class saes bu also due o heir middle-classness.

Te spending daa are rom he Common Core o Daa a he Naional Cener or

Educaion Saisics. We deaed he gures using he Consumer Price Index or

All Urban Consumers rom he Bureau o Labor Saisics. o conrm our resuls,

we also ran regressions wih spending adjused by he Comparable Wage Index.

Te index is oen used in sudies o educaion spending o adjus or regional

dierences in labor markes.47 Te regressions using CWI-adjused spending

were generally similar o our main resuls bu he limied availabiliy o he CWI

resriced our sample size.

Models

We use hree dieren economeric models in his sudy bu our preerred model

uses panel-correced sandard errors, or PCSE. We also ran regressions using a

pooled ordinary leas squares, or OLS, mehod and sae and year xed eecs.

Te resuls o all hree models are included in his repor bu we use he resuls o

he regressions using PCSE in he body o he paper. We believe PCSE is he beschoice because he share o income going o he middle class, he independen

variable o ineres, is relaively slow moving over ime.


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PCSE was rs described by Nahaniel Beck, a poliical scienis a New York

Universiy, and Jonahan Kaz, a proessor o social sciences and saisics a he

Caliornia Insiue or echnology, and has since become common in he sudy o

poliical economy. PCSE is a mehod o improve he accuracy o esimaes when

using ime-series cross-secional daa. 48 ime-series cross-secional daa are char-

acerized by repeaed observaions (oen annual) on he same xed poliical unis(usually saes or counries), and hus he daa are oen correlaed over ime.

As Nahaniel Beck and Jonahan Kaz argue, Te inclusion o xed eecs almos

always masks he impac o slowly changing independen variables.49 Tey argue

ha using xed eecs wih ime-series cross-secional daa ha have slowly

changing variables o ineres is no jus a minor problem bu raher can be pro-

oundly misleading in assessing he impacs o imporan independen variables.

We sress ha we are no simply alking abou some minor changes in esimaion

efciency, bu, raher esimaes ha are so ar o as o be compleely useless.50

While we preer PCSE, we show all o our specicaions. Te majoriy o he

sudies we examined ha sudied similar quesions use pooled OLS or similar

linear models ha adjus sandard errors.51 Using pooled OLS and PCSE models,

we nd a relaionship beween he srengh o he middle class and mah scores

ha is signican a he 5 percen level. When we use xed eecs, he relaionship

beween he srengh o he middle class and mah scores is signican a he 10

percen level. Ta he middle class is associaed wih higher es scores across a

variey o models provides srong suppor or our argumens. (see Figure 2 or he

abled resuls o our analysis)

FIGURE 2

Regression results indicate middle-class income share

associated with educational outcomes

Three different models produce similar results

Variable Description

Strength of the middle class The share of income going to the middle 60 percent of the income distribution

Eighth-grade math score NAEP composite score for eighth-grade math

Child poverty rate Percent of those 17 and under who are in poverty

English language learners Percent of students who are English language learners

Spending per student K-12 education spending per student

Per capita GDP ($2009) Real gross domestic product per capita, in 2009 dollars


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Summary statistics

Variable Observations Mean Min Max

Strength of the middle class 200 0.4772 0.4200 0.5228

Eighth-grade math score 200 280.04 261 299

Child poverty rate 200 17.6 7.8 30.7

English language learners 181 0.061137 0.004535 0.251751

Spending per student 150 11,570.28 7,338.67 19,212.40

Per capita GDP ($2009) 200 37,909.52 27,972.60 57,559.40

Regression results

Panel-corrected standard errors

Independent variable Coefficient p-value

Strength of the middle class 68.64 0.030

Child poverty rate -0.578 0.015

English language learners -35.51 0.000

Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.0004 0.034

R-squared: 0.4173

N: 181

Fixed effects



Child poverty rate 0.1165 0.551


Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.0002 0.409

R-squared: 0.9706

N: 181

Pooled OLS





Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.0004 0.005

R-squared: 0.4173

N: 181


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With spending controls

Panel-corrected standard errors





Spending per student 0.00005 0.760

Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.0002 0.179

R-squared: 0.4748

N: 136

Fixed effects



Child poverty rate 0.1803 0.460English language learners -13.28 0.453


Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.00005 0.842

R-squared: 0.9771

N: 136

Pooled OLS






Per capita GDP ($2009) 0.0002 0.273

R-squared: 0.4748

N: 136


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About the authors

David Madland is he Direcor o he American Worker Projec a he Cener or

American Progress Acion Fund. He has a Ph.D. in governmen rom Georgeown

Universiy and received his B.S. rom he Universiy o Caliornia a Berkeley.

His disseraion abou he poliical reacion o he decline o he dened-benereiremen sysem was awarded he Bes Disseraion Award by he Labor and

Employmen Relaions Associaion. Previously, he worked or Congressman George

Miller (D-CA) on he House Commitee on Educaion and he Workorce as well as

he Resources Commitee.

Nick Bunker is a Special Assisan wih he Economic Policy eam a he Cener

or American Progress Acion Fund. He works on issues relaed o economic

securiy and working condiions o he American worker. Nick graduaed rom

Georgeown Universiy wih a B.S. in inernaional economics. During his under-

graduae career, he was involved wih suden governmen and helped ound amagazine on inernaional aairs. Nick was an inern a CAP during he 2009-10

academic year. He was born and raised in Norwood, Massachusets.


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Endnotes

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tm Lw, o L, U.s. Lg cllg dg, TheNew York Times, July 23, 2010, lbl ://www.ym.m/2010/07/23/u/23llg.ml.

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3 d m gg 1 m: tmpky emmul sz, im iquly U s,1913 1 998, Quarterly Journal of Economics 118 (1) (2003): 139.d gg ml 60 bm 20 m: s aggg im r by e F t 5 p hul, lbl ://www.u.g//www/m//l/ul/x.ml (l ob 2011).

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publ eu (Wg: c am pga Fu, 2011).

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8 v.J. rg J.W. aw-dll, r, ulul l ul u: p qul m

u, Sociology of Education 72 (3) (1999): 158178; pml e.d-K, t iu p eu Fmly im cl am: t i rl pl ex hm em,Journal of Family Psychology19 (2)(2005): 294304.

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21 d p. Bk, B Glg, Gl K. L, s-m su, sl Quly, nl em dlm,Comparative Economic Review46 (3) (2002): 291312; am Gm- dl a. Lg, equly eul ouy : a 40Y p. i r t, s Lmb, M duu-Bll, ., Education and Equity: International Perspective on Theoryand Policy(nw Yk: sg, 2006); clu Bum, MugFmly Bkgu il su eu. i awc. p am Gm, ., Methodological Advances inCross-national Surveys of Educational Achievement, National ResearchCouncil(Wg: nl amy p, 2002); Bu Full pm clk, rg sl e Wl igg culu?,Review of Educational Research 57 (3) (1994): 119157.
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The Middle Class Is Key to a Better-Educated Nation

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