Remember when eggs were just a simple breakfast staple, not a status symbol for the ultra-wealthy? Thanks to inflation, eggs have gone from a grocery list afterthought to a hot commodity rivaling gold and real estate. At this rate, carrying a carton of eggs through the store requires a security escort and a Brinks delivery truck.
And what about the impending Easter holiday? Word on the street is that parents are painting potatoes instead because who can afford to waste an actual egg? I love my boys, but I am not wasting a dozen eggs to color them. The theme this year is to eat what you paint.
But if you really want to see inflation gone wrong, bypass your local farm yard and head over to Harvard Yard.
Yep, the granddaddy of the Ivy League. And I'm not talking about tuition costs (Harvard just announced an expansion to its tuition-free program); I'm talking about grades.
According to a recent article in the Washington Post Magazine, Twenty years ago, the mean grade-point average for Harvard University undergraduates was 3.41. Today, Harvard's average GPA has ballooned to 3.8. At America's oldest university, 79 percent of the grades are now A's and A-minuses ― a 32 percent increase from 10 years earlier.
The same article said their Ivy school rivals in New Haven, Connecticut, reported equally rampant grade inflation. In the 2022-2023 academic year, nearly 60 percent of the grades Yale University professors awarded undergraduates were an outright A, not even an A-minus. Only 20 percent of grades in the entire college were a B+ or below.
Are kids learning more? Are they studying longer? Or have we just gone soft? What do you think?
Now, before I criticize my tweed jacket-wearing, pipe-smoking counterparts - it should be known that I gave away more than my fair share of "A's" in my day. I could spin you a tale of lack of grade book software and self-grading programs were to blame, but truth be told, I would give away just as many, if not more, A's today.
When I was a classroom teacher, my theory was that if you were willing to come in at 6:00 a.m., of your own accord, let me work you like a dog for 90 minutes, come back during third period for another 60 minutes, and then cap it off with an afternoon sectional, evening rehearsal, or Friday night game, you earned the A. I haven't even mentioned Saturday competitions or band camp.
But twenty-plus years later, I would give A+s—not just because of inflation but because the kids have earned and deserve it.
At face value, 3% doesn't seem like a lot—but when compounded over twenty years, it's significant. Any music educator who taught for twenty-plus years will attest to this. There's plenty of video and recording evidence to back it up.
So, if value has risen with the "price," then it's not inflation; it's valuation. In today's music groups, students (and teachers) are achieving 109.3% more and being rewarded with a paltry (or poultry) 20% increase in remuneration (FV = PV * (1 + r)^n – I Googled it)
That's right—3% over time means we have doubled our production—but we're still paying them nothing!
These kids need to unionize or stage a walkout. Wait a minute—we music educators need to walk out. But that would mean missing a rehearsal, which we all know will never happen.
And that's not the whole story.
Students aren't just learning more; they are applying it to their lives daily. They can't just know the right note, rhythm, or drill spot; they demonstrate mastery daily. What other curricula increase demand, make it applicable daily (that rules out French and Geometry), and demonstrate mastery?
None.
Demand, daily application, and demonstrable mastery. Just add 3%, and rinse, and repeat next year.
Achievement/demand/rigor - which came first? Well, that's a chicken/egg type question. And, right now, I can't afford either.