West LA Times

For public school districts across the United States, increasing conflicts over culturally sensitive issues such as book bans and teaching about race, racism, and LGBTQ topics have disrupted operations and impacted classrooms. According to a study by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA, these disputes have cost billions of dollars that could have been better allocated to serving students.

The study surveyed 467 public school superintendents from 46 states and found that nearly 66% of districts experienced moderate to high levels of conflict on several cultural issues. These conflicts often involved harassment, misinformation, vandalism, and violent rhetoric or threats.

Financially, the total cost was estimated at $3.2 billion for all public schools in the 2023–24 period. This includes expenses for additional security, communications, legal work, and redeploying staff to handle social media misinformation, media inquiries, and public records requests.

Beyond financial costs, these cultural conflicts have significantly affected the well-being of superintendents, teachers, school staff, and students. The report highlights increased job turnover rates, higher absenteeism rates among educators and students alike.

“This research makes clear that culturally divisive conflicts in the nation’s schools are generating fear, stress and anxiety that is disrupting school districts and taking a personal toll on the educators and staff members who work in them,” said lead researcher John Rogers. He is a UCLA professor of education and director of the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. “Sadly, as superintendents have told us," he continued "the cost of these conflicts not only has a financial impact but is also eroding teaching and learning."

The research team included faculty from UCLA as well as scholars from other institutions like the University of Texas at Austin, American University, and UC Riverside.

For those interested in further details about this issue's impact on U.S. public schools can refer to “The Costs of Conflict: The Fiscal Impact of Culturally Divisive Conflicts on Public School in the United States.”