Public Schools, Hurricanes, and Nest Egg Estimates

In partnership with

Good morning! It's Sunday, Sept. 7. To get into the spirit as students return to school, we traced the origins and legacy of public education in the US (a companion to our Private Education page sent yesterday via our Society and Culture newsletter).

Scroll down to learn how much Americans think they need to retire, how oil refinery businesses are managed, and more. Or visit 1440 Topics for primers on Wind Power, the NFL, or 200 others.

Have suggestions? Help us better serve our more than 4.5 million readers by sharing your honest feedback at [email protected].

— 1440 Topics Team

Dear Readers—Our Sunday edition delivers deep dives into interesting and relevant topics, helping you explore new ideas and feed your curiosity.

Instead of the news—which we cover Monday through Saturday—today we’ll bring you deeply researched overviews and the human-curated articles, podcasts, videos, and more that most fascinated us this week.

Literacy begets Liberty

Public Education, 101

The modern public education system in the United States took shape during New England’s common school movement in the 1830s and 1840s. Today, the system serves approximately 83% (45 million) of enrolled K-12 students across over 98,000 schools, with the remainder attending private or non-district public schools such as charters.

State governments determine curriculum and academic standards, while local school boards and districts typically manage implementation—selecting materials, pacing guides, and lesson structures. For the 2023-24 school year, spending on K-12 public education was around $17,700 per student, totaling roughly $880B. A combination of local property taxes, state revenue, and federal grants funds these expenses.

In 2023-24, 87% of school funding came from state and local sources. The US Department of Education, though providing only about 8%-10% of K-12 funding, shapes national education policy by distributing targeted grants, enforcing civil rights laws, and coordinating research.

... Read our full deep dive on public schools here or our companion piece on private education here.

Also, check out ...

> How Puritan beliefs about salvation led to the push for free schooling. (More)

> Homeschooling doubled during the coronavirus pandemic. (More)

> Visualizing the teacher shortage in the US. (More)

In partnership with Forkful

The 'What’s for Dinner?' Button

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Worker Nest Eggs

401(k) plans, explained

Originally intended for corporate executives, the 401(k) is now, arguably, the most famous section of the US tax code and a staple in worker benefits packages and personal finance guides (watch 101).

Roughly 70 million Americans, with a total of more than $7T invested, use these long-term, tax-advantaged accounts to build toward a more secure retirement.

Some critics claim that with 401(k) plans, companies offloaded the risk of retirement savings to workers without the training to avoid volatile portfolio mixes. Amid the 2008 financial crisis, many 401(k) plans lost over a quarter of their value, an event that hit those near retirement particularly hard.

... Read our full explainer on the plans here.

Also, check out ...

> A work-free retirement is a relatively recent phenomenon. (More)

> Ted Benna was an accountant who invented what became the 401(k). (More)

> 401(k) plans had an average of $112K as of 2023. (More)

Spirals of Destruction

What are hurricanes?

Hurricanes are examples of tropical cyclones—rotating, low-pressure storm systems with winds exceeding 74 mph—that form over the warm waters of the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific oceans. Able to grow to over 1,000 miles in diameter, tropical cyclones can unleash multiple feet of rain and storm surges.

All tropical cyclones consist of a central eye with no extreme weather, a violent eyewall of intense winds funneling warm, moist air upward, and spiraling rainbands composed of clouds and thunderstorms (see breakdown). The water in the air releases energy when it condenses, which accelerates wind speeds and provides a continuous supply of storm clouds until landfall.

Hurricanes are categorized by maximum sustained winds on the Saffir-Simpson scale and have caused over $1.5T in damage from 1980 to 2024.

... Read our full overview on hurricanes here.

Also, check out ...

> How the Earth's curve and rotation cause hurricanes to spin. (More)

> Hurricanes might have killed 300 times more people than reported. (More)

> Explaining how the hurricane forecasting "cone" actually works. (More)

Best of the Week

We uploaded 220 resources to 1440 Topics last week—here are some of our favorites:

Americans believe they need $1.5M in savings to retire.

Nantucket's Margaret Getchell helped build Macy's into a top retail store.

How does the oil industry actually work?

The story behind the University of Minnesota's 1945 starvation experiment.

How the senses remember.

Ancient Rome's Justinian Code forms the basis of two-thirds of global law today.

The psychology behind learning through consequence or association.

See the anatomy of a healthy joint.

A pilot explains what's happening during flight turbulence.

Explaining why Disney's Renaissance (1980s and '90s) ended.

Decoding the jargon of sports betting.

Find the value of a dollar dating back to 1635.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is only about two centuries old.

How South Korea invests significantly in exporting K-pop.

Motown Records' innovative songwriting assembly line.

In partnership with Forkful

'Yes, Chef.'

The last thing we want to do after a long, stressful day of work is roll up our sleeves and do more work in the kitchen ... which is why we were so excited to hear about Forkful.

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Public Schools, Hurricanes, and Nest Egg Estimates