Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Spending ≠ Success

Just a quick response to Ken's post about DC literacy rates.

1. DC spends more per pupil than any state in the Union (as of 2005 roughly $11,300)
2. DC public schools perform worse than any state in the Union

While I would hesitate to claim this as evidence that more spending hurts children, I would point to it as evidence that more spending is not the panacea for all education woes.

EDIT: There was a comment that I needed to adjust for regional cost differences. If you click the link in point 1, they claim the numbers are already adjusted.

2 comments:

MUD said...

Your figures don't include a comparison of cost of living. You can buy a house here in the heartland for $100,000 and actually live there. In Washington, D.C. it won't buy the lot to build a nice house on. I will leave out the ability of the kids and the support they get from their families. I tell you that if you want to try to educate your children in a pig sty it will cost you more and return less than a school in the Heartland of America.

Maarek said...

The figures I quote are already adjusted for regional cost differences. As for the class and racial demographics of DC, they are a unique problem facing the jurisdiction, since the states do have areas outside of urban centers to bring up the averages. Of course, all urban areas spend more on education than rural areas, with less to show for it.

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