How American Public Schools Waste Millions Of Dollars (And What It Can Teach The Rest Of Us)

Would you spend millions of dollars to uncover a fact that you already know? According to a new piece in the Washington Post, that may be exactly what hundreds of public school systems across the country are doing right now by wasting millions of dollars on unnecessary standardized assessment tests. The article suggests we all might be better off if schools either opted out of doing these tests annually and did them less frequently, or perhaps got rid of them altogether.

Aside from the school system, there was a lesson in this story that might resonate for any business too. Too many of us are also spending time, effort and maybe money collecting information that is either redundant or that we don't really need. Why ask for a phone number, for example, if you're never planning to call or text someone? The same mentality that applies to rethinking old assumptions in the public school system can help the rest of us think about what we might also be wasting our money doing. Thankfully, whatever it is, at least you know the process to stop doing it is going to be way easier than getting hundreds of public school systems to rethink their policies.