The short answer is no,as this chart shows.[read_more]
Click to enlarge.
Go to this article to read more on the lack of co-relation between public school spending and SAT scores, including state by state school expenses with comparisons to SAT scores over a 40 year period from 1972 to 2012. Virginia’s spending has increased by over 100% in inflation adjusted dollars and the SAT scores have decreased 3%. (See figure 47.) Other states are worse. New Hampshire has increased their educational spending by 200% and their SAT scores have gone down by over 5%. (Figure 30.)
Decades of increased taxpayer spending per student in U.S. public schools has not improved student or school outcomes from that education, and a new study finds that throwing money at the system is simply not tied to academic improvements.
The study from the CATO Institute shows that American student performance has remained poor, and has actually declined in mathematics and verbal skills, despite per-student spending tripling nationwide over the same 40-year period.
The takeaway from this study is that what we’ve done over the past 40 years hasn’t worked,” Andrew Coulson, director of the Center For Educational Freedom at the CATO Institute, told Watchdog.org. “The average performance change nationwide has declined 3 percent in mathematical and verbal skills. Moreover, there’s been no relationship, effectively, between spending and academic outcomes.” (emphasis mine)
More of our tax dollars spent on public education every year while education in America continues to decline.
19 comments
Another tired stories from J. Maybe next time you will stop to look at the math behind what you are implying. Of course SAT scores don’t keep up with spending increases. What would have them do, go up by maybe 50%, more? That would me that the excellent score here in Loudoun of 1600 (for easily math purposes would go up to a near perfect score of 2400. That just does not make sense. Of course, your whole purpose here is the lay the ground work to cut school spending including teaching salaries, correct? I imagine that you would rather save a few bucks than see teachers earn a little bit more. Selfish of you, no?
Ok, how about scores go up just a bit over 40 years? How abut the US moves up from 27th in the world on math scores?
You must not have my previous education articles because I have never supported cuts in teacher’s salaries. Never. I am very much in favor of cutting the massive bureaucries in education and I don’t want more more flakely, dumbed down, program adopted by our schools. We pay educrats millions of dollars a year to create more and more failing programs that hurt our children and it has to stop. No more ridiculous math programs like Everyday Math and Math Investigations and no more ridiculous reading programs and writing programs that don’t teach reading or writing. Enough money has been wasted on this nonsense that never works.
Everyday math works. Why do you say it does not. I have seen it personally helping students who previously struggle and who grasp the content because they get the reinforcement that the extra class provides. Where is your evidence? What is this extra expense? There is no extra cost for a school because an existing teacher is used and the class takes an existing block. Stop making up stuff
Not making up anything. It has been very well researched. The extra expense is to retrain every teacher who teaches it and provide new workbooks for every child who takes it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/12/10/is-everyday-math-the-worst-math-program-ever/
http://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2013/08/17/beware-of-everyday-mathematics/
http://imaginationsoup.net/2012/03/everyday-math-makes-me-want-to-scream/
this is not in Loudoun. have you checked locally?
Everyday Math and Math Investigations have both been very good for math tutors. Of course that only serves to increase the ‘gap’ in math between those whose families can afford tutors and those who cannot.
Great topic Jeanine!
I am sick and tired of being held “hostage” by the education system in this state and country.
Both parties pump money into the educational system just to buy votes. There are hundreds of millions of dollars that could be given back to the voters instead of being pumped into the educational system, where we get nothing in return.
Except of course the professors making a half-million dollars a year. Some of the highest paid state employee’s in the Commonwealth are in the educational system.
This is just like immigration. Neither party is going to touch this one. They’ll throw all the taxpayers money that they can get at education.
stop making crap up. Some professors make a decent living but the numbers you are talking about are not the average professor. Are you sure you are not mixing up coaches with acedemics. Show us the numbers. Also, what does college salaries have to do with this fake outrage against SAT scores anyway
Ok, here is the numbers.
http://datacenter.timesdispatch.com/databases/salaries-virginia-state-employees-2012/
It is bit awkward to use because you cannot search multiple job title at once but according to the site your provide, there are 106,413 state employees and 43,933 of them work at colleges and universities. Of these, there are 93 earning more than 300,000 a year (not even your half million dollar number). 31 of them have the title of professor and there are a few more with other, similar titles. How does the total number 50 sound to you? Please tell me which of these 50 do you think is overpaid. How does a number of individuals that small even make your radar screen? OR, are you simply throwing out false facts again and trying to rally your troops?
What false facts are you referring to? How many on just the first page have professor in their title and make over $500,000?
No state employee is worth $300,000, much less $500,000. How about that? You are out of touch. The governor is at $175,000???
You Republican Liberals believe that it is possible to be fiscally half-pregnant. It’s only a few, nothing significant, etc.. Less than fifty….
You are either Big Government of you are not. Big Government requires big spending.
I bet if it was your money they were being paid with you would have a different attitude?
Just what is it that you do for a living? Huh?
Bet you just love it that the state budget has increased about $21 Billion from 2010-14 under Liberal Republican lack of leadership??? And you are in “bed” with the Liberal Republican’s and their tax increases like HB 2313……
there are 6 people who work at universities and who earn more than 500,000. One is the coach at GMU. Your original post involved the costbof education. Now, you are changing the topic because your outrage over education cost was proven by your own numbers to be false. if you want to discuss govt spending, then post a new topic and I definitely support the notion of waste. just don’t do it here
You my friend are the one changing the subject. You want to flip education costs into your own self-righteous justification of Liberalism.
Tell me that you are not connected to education in some manner?
how is holding you to the topic here changing the subject? we can talk about waste as long as we don’t use inflamed, false facts . You complained about professors earning more than a half million dollars. I pointed out that this belief is incorrect. I do think there is waste all around but it is not where you said it is.
Are you involved in education or connected to it?
Increased public school spending means MORE JOBS and higher job security in the school system; particularity in administration roles. But parents and taxpayers won’t fork out their hard-earned money for bloating the bureaucracy, so we must maintain the facade it’s all “for the children”. Libs learned a long while ago “for the children” is a winning meme.
Keep this in mind when your school division starts budget discussions in a couple months!
Why? Are you supporting more spending?
There are so many factors for children doing well in school, but even educators know(the ones that are honest with themselves) that money isn’t the best criteria for educated children. It all starts at home. Preferably a two parent home that understands that sending their child off to school doesn’t mean that their jobs as parents end when the school bus takes them away in the morning.
One more factor: Feed your own child. Pack their lunches every day. Too bad more parents didn’t get the memo because now it has culminated in Michelle Obama(government) dictating what your kids eat. Now we have the government’s nose under the tent and they aren’t going to let go. You can see where it all leads. It isn’t going to end well.