Chapter 4 School Finance as Investment in Human Capital Education & The Economy Throughout history, few believed that educating all citizens would benefit the society ’ s overall economy. The Old Concept ? For the most part, government limited education to the elite & not to the masses ? Labor, the working classes, and the poor remained largely uneducated Early Times Early civilizations valued sheer numbers of people for protection, hunting, & gathering. Developing societies prized individuals first for how well – and later for how much – they could produce. Early . View Adam Smith ’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) included human capital in the fixed capital equipment of manufacturing goods Society ’ s members ’ acquired abilities as part of the fixed resources A revolutionary concept for the time, it followed naturally from the founding fathers ’ discussions about a literate society ’s importance to their democratic republic government. A New Concept Until Theodore W. Schultz ’ s work on investment in human capital gained popular acceptance in the 1960 ’ s, society valued labor primarily for their physical rather than intellectual attributes. Theodore W. Schultz, “ Investment in Human Capital, ” American Economic Review 51 (March, 1961), pp. 1-17. Now a Popular View The World Development Report of the World Bank & other journal reports have shown that investment in education explains the sustained development of many countries & the lack of development in others. An Educated Citizenry Raises Everyone ’ s Standard of Living Makes a better workforce Creates new products & services that enhance quality of life Raises revenues for social programs Reduces social service programs ’ costs for persons with increased levels of education Creates safer neighborhoods Education Level is Closely Associated with Increased Earnings High School Dropout $20,000/year High School Diploma $30,000/year Bac