Well, John, you can always attack the source. That would be a new approach. :>)
Higher Education Spending Defies Study Results
By Christine Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
August 08, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - Federal and state governments keep upping the ante on education spending despite massive budget deficits and numerous studies that show higher per-pupil spending doesn't raise education achievement.
According to recent testimony by Heritage Foundation scholar Krista Kafer, despite "considerable" increases in federal education spending, nearly six in 10 high school seniors "lack even a basic knowledge of American history," more than half of the nation's low-income fourth graders cannot read at a basic level, and American kids lag behind their international peers on standardized tests.
"The evidence suggests that there is little reason to expect that increasing funding will improve the situation," Kafer said.
At the state level, Washington, D.C., spends more per capita than most states but is tied with Mississippi for worst student performance.
A 2002 Standard & Poor's study found that in Pennsylvania, 60 percent of the state's high-scoring school districts had below-average education spending. And conversely, about a third of school districts with higher spending had lower-than-average scores.
In California, a new study by the Pacific Research Institute found that the state increased education spending by 29 percent over the past 10 years (in inflation-adjusted terms), yet school children in the state rank near the bottom of performance.
"What that points out is that we're not failing in terms of the performance of our students because of an inadequacy of money," said the study's author, Lance Izumi. "We're obviously not putting those monies to the right uses to effective programs and programs that have been shown to actually improve student performance."
Izumi speculates that lawmakers are less concerned with "whether the programs they enact actually improve student performance" than with matters like class size.
For example, Izumi said, the state spends nearly $2 billion a year in reducing class size. That's "popular amongst many people, including politicians; but research shows reducing class size is not related to student performance."
American Legislative Exchange Council Education Director Trent Barton said spending priorities have more to do with teacher union priorities than quality education. That's where most of the education spending increases have gone, according to Barton.
"We're all taught teachers aren't paid enough," said Barton. "Then, when you look at the numbers, the numbers don't actually show that."
According to Barton, for 1999-2000, the average American with a bachelor's degree earned $42,225. Yet the average teacher earned $43,768 and enjoyed a lengthy summer vacation to boot.
In fact, Barton said, average teacher salaries rose more than 11.5 percent in real dollars since 1980, outpacing the national average there, too.
Instead of spending more money, Izumi believes his state needs to make some changes, including: utilize research-based curricula and teaching methods; use state academic standards as goals for student learning; reform the state's accountability system (making all low-performing schools subject to those standards); reform collective bargaining; and adopt a school-choice plan.
Barton would like to see more of the resources spent on hiring as teachers professionals with expertise in their field who don't necessarily have college-issued teaching certificates - something unions have vociferously opposed.
Microsoft chief Bill Gates could not teach in public schools, said Barton. "It's very important to give these experts in their fields an opportunity to educate our children."
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