THE PUBLIC "EDUCATION" SHAM

Jaysun | 1/5/04 | Jaysun

[Jaysun]

As this election year starts, the subject of Public Education and the funding (or lack thereof) will be discussed on a national level. I’d like to share what I’ve found on the subject of Public Education. It may surprise some of you to learn that there is absolutely no correlation between funding and student performance. The idea that “poorer” students in less affluent districts are at an educational disadvantage isn’t at all true. In fact, the less money a district, city, county, or state spends on education the better the students seem to perform. The idea that smaller classrooms or more money is the answer to the educational crisis facing America is complete idiocy.

I’ll share some of the data that I have on a National level concerning K-12. I also have data on a state and local level in my home state of Alabama. I’d be happy to help others compile similar data in other states if needed.

According to data shown by the Nation Center for Education Statistics, the District of Columbia spent the most at $11,009 per student. The District of Columbia also ranked dead last on SAT scores with a 480 in Verbal and a 473 in Mathematics. (DC also has one of the smallest pupil per teacher ratios with 1 teacher for every 13 students.)

Utah Spent the least at $4,769 per student. Utah ranked tenth in the Nation on SAT scores with 563 in Verbal and 559 in Mathematics.

Look at the ten states in which the most amount of money per student was spent and their SAT ranks:

District of Columbia $11,009 51 New York $10,725 45 Connecticut $10,517 34 Rhode Island $10,216 37 Massachusetts $9,883 31 Vermont $9,798 32 Delaware $9,612 39 New Jersey $9,596 41 Alaska $9,430 30 West Virginia $8,742 26

Compare the ten states in which the least amount of money per student was spent and their SAT ranks:

Utah $4,769 10 Mississippi $5,235 16 Arizona $5,445 28 Tennessee $5,470 11 Arkansas $5,764 15 Idaho $5,789 22 Alabama $5,937 14 Nevada $6,134 1 North Dakota $6,173 35 Oklahoma $6,184 9

On average the ten states that spent the most spent $9,953 per student and ranked 37th on SAT scores. The ten states that spent the least spent $5,690 per student and ranked 16th on SAT scores.

Please help me in making sure that the coming education debate includes facts such as the ones listed above. In my view, we should reverse the trend of increased spending on public education in favor of home schooling and private schools. We should move to dismantle the dismal failure known as public education.

Nation Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov SAT scores http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt136.asp Spending per pupil http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/Detail.asp?Key=760

[inquest]

I think that the responsibility to education children should eventually rest on the parents rather that the federal or the state government.

Yes, that's definitely true. It's scary how vulnerable the little ones are to the most subtle kinds of manipulation.

[cerberus]

I have worked in special ed for many years and I totally agree with you.

The destructive impact special ed is having on public education is immense and growing.

It is such a political hot potato and "feel good" issue that no politician dares touch it.

Moreover, due to the layers and layers of regulations, documentation, due process rights etc., few legislators or members of the general public have any real grasp of the depth and scope of the problem and the tremendous waste that it entails.

[clikker]

Did you account for the difference in the cost of living between regions? $1,000 in Mississippi can probably "buy" a lot more than $1,000 in New Jersey or DC.

[SoftballMominVA]

You didn't read my whole post. It is not just the special ed services--It is also the incredible bungling and the multiple lawsuits and the transportation AND the private schools. The District of Columbia is a huge joke and needs to be taken over by somebody with some sort of ability to run a school system.

My only point was to pull out the sped related funding.

And actually sped CAN indeed skew results. We had a family move into our county two years ago with three autistic children. Those three children cost this rural county over $750k a year in residential care. Since we only have about 10k students, that 3/4 million is a huge expenditure. The taxpayers pick up that tab.

[Eastbound]

Good post, good topic. In the process of reading "Fed Ed," -- by Allen Quist on 'The New Federal Curriculum and How It's Enforced.' States no longer control public education and Gummint farmed out the curriculum to an NGO, Center for Civic Education without any input from the states. Just another law congress passed based on their negligence to read the fine print in proposed legislation.

[Kramer_AL]

I was looking over your source of data (seeing Alabama's education system in such a good light is not very common) and I noticed something you might want to check out. You are comparing state's only on their SAT scores, which for the most part are taken only on a volunteer basis, mainly to get into college. I'm not sure how you interpreted the "Percent of Graduates taking SAT 1999-2000" column (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d01/dt137.asp), but it looked to me as it though it meant that, for instance, 9 percent of Alabama's graduating seniors took the test and consequently their average score is based on that 9 percent of Alabama's student body. But if you look at D.C.'s data you'll see that 89 percent of their graduating seniors took the SAT. This is an assumption but I believe it to be true: Alabama's brightest and top nine percent of students took the test, while almost all of the students in D.C. took the test, therefore D.C.'s average is "polluted" with all the morons, and Alabama's average contains mostly the smarter students. I hope I didn't misinterpret the meaning of "Percent of Graduates taking SAT 1999-2000," else I shall look fairly ridiculous.

I agree the last thing public education needs is more money, but I thought I might mention the above to you so that you could build a more airtight statistical argument.

[antaresequity]

Great post and great bio on your page

[The_Eaglet]

Some are in office, and there are candidates for offices at various levels. Here are some examples.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - EDUCATION REFORM

[Jaysun]

Did you account for the difference in the cost of living between regions? $1,000 in Mississippi can probably "buy" a lot more than $1,000 in New Jersey or DC.


I have factored the "cost of living" on other reports and my claim that spending and achievement aren't linked. For one quick example, we can look at the average teacher salary by state. The teachers in states that have a higher cost of living would presumably be paid more, which would cause the amount per student to rise. In this quick case we look at teacher's pay because we can safely assume that 4th graders aren't the ones that need the adjustment (since young kids don't have to pay for their home, utilities, etc.)

The average salary for teachers in DC (last in score, first in spending) in 2001-2002 was $47,049. The average salary for teachers in Nevada (first in score, 43 in spending) was $41,524. That's a difference of $5,525 (13%)per teacher per year. The 13% extra that DC pays teachers does little to explain the astounding 80% extra that DC gets over Nevada per student per year.

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/results2003/schsystchar-c.asp

[bdeaner]

Excellent stats, Jaysun!

Could you possibly score the data for the rest of the States? I'd like to run a correlational analysis on that data. From the stats you've posted, I'd expect to see a negative relationship between funding and SAT rank, meaning the higher the funding the lower the rank.

[Jaysun]

I hope I didn't misinterpret the meaning of "Percent of Graduates taking SAT 1999-2000," else I shall look fairly ridiculous. I agree the last thing public education needs is more money, but I thought I might mention the above to you so that you could build a more airtight statistical argument.

Thanks for your thoughtful observations. You are correct in your interpretation of the "Percent of Graduates taking SAT 1999-2000." I chose SAT as an example because it was quick, easy, and most people are familiar with it. Perhaps SAT scores wasn't the best choice. However, I done a lot of research on this and stand by my claim that there is absolutely no correlation between funding and student performance. Please allow me to give you another quick example by comparing the results:

We'll look at the spending per student and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for 2000. Mathematics proficiency of 8th-graders in public schools - percentage below basic skills.

BIGGEST SPENDERS (top 5)
DC $11,935.00 (77% below basic)
New York $10,957.00 (32% below basic)
Connecticut $10,122.00 (28% below basic)
Rhode Island $9,646.00 (36% below basic)
Massachusetts $9,317.00 (24% below basic)

LOWEST SPENDERS (top 5)
Idaho $5,644.00 (29% below basic)
Arkansas $5,628.00 (48% below basic)
Arizona $5,444.00 (38% below basic)
Mississippi $5,356.00 (59% below basic)
Utah $4,692.00 (32% below basic)

As you can see, our good friends in DC managed to spend the most per student. They also won the prize for poor performance in that 8 out 10 of their 8th graders lacked BASIC math skills. The folks in Utah spent the least and had 32% of 8th graders who lacked basic math skills. To further prove how erratic the spending to performance relationship is, you can observe the average of the top spenders and their scores with those who spent the least.

Average top 5 spending: $10,395
Average of students lacking basic skills: 39.4%
Average lowest 5 spending: $5,353
Average of students lacking basic skills: 41.2%

Yippie! On average, this actually shows an improvement! We spent about 98% more and gained nearly 2 kids per hundred in the area of basic math! If that trend were to hold true, we could match Utah's results in DC by simply increasing the spending in DC to $115,394 per child while leaving Utah's at $4,692! See what I mean?

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/tables/dt127.asp

[Kramer_AL]

Yeah, that data definitely shows that there is almost zero correlation in spending and results. For a while I've thought that the problems we face with public education lie somewhere other than funding, but I've only recently wondered about proof. Do you have any more of your research drawn up in some sort of report. It's always good to have lots of ammo in debates with peers.

[inquest]

Thanks, hopefully that's something they can build on.

[sandydipper]

Public education will never be a learning experience as long as the teachers unions prevent inferior "teachers" from being terminated.

[Jaysun]

Yeah, that data definitely shows that there is almost zero correlation in spending and results. For a while I've thought that the problems we face with public education lie somewhere other than funding, but I've only recently wondered about proof. Do you have any more of your research drawn up in some sort of report. It's always good to have lots of ammo in debates with peers.

Sure. If possible, let me know what type of ammo you're interested in. I have a lot of reports/data. Many of them require an explanation as to what you're looking at.

[Jaysun]

Public education will never be a learning experience as long as the teachers unions prevent inferior "teachers" from being terminated.

What you say is true. Why more people fail to understand that is beyond reason or logic. Unions, by their very nature, are advocates of their members whether that advocacy is to the detriment of the actual employer or not. So in this case, the unions advocate the interest of the teachers regardless of the effect that their demands or policies have over the schools (and children) in which those teachers are employed. It's the same story in EVERY union. The Airline Worker's Union doesn't fret about improving the price of tickets, The Grocery Worker's Unions calling for strikes in favor of fresher produce or bread, and the Teacher's Union doesn't fight for school kids.

[Aquinasfan]

Schooling and education aren't the same thing. In fact, they are largely antithetical.

The Seven Lesson Schoolteacher

Schooling for young children has never really been about education.

The Underground History of American Education

[Jaysun]

Sweet Sassy Molassy! I began reading some of the material on the links that you'd provided. I stopped as soon as the song from the Twilight Zone became loud enough to break my concentration. I'm sure that he has some valid points - perhaps ALL of his points are valid. However, I'm of the opinion that the education system is a steaming pile as a result of a few simple things:
a) Teacher's Unions protect inept teachers and policies.
b) There's no competition to promote better results.
c) The emphasis on "self esteem" is producing kids that are illiterate, but feel good about it. The "self esteem plague" has also caused a decline in good ole competition, the dumbing down of lessons and requirements to avoid hurting the feelings of the less intelligent, and leaves children unequipped for a world in which everyone is NOT equal in ability and nobody cares how much you love yourself.
d) The Government's top-down style of management and mandates to the slightest detail has killed creativity and ingenuity in the teachers and staff.

[Jaysun]

Sweet Sassy Molassy! I began reading some of the material on the links that you'd provided. I stopped as soon as the song from the Twilight Zone became loud enough to break my concentration. I'm sure that he has some valid points - perhaps ALL of his points are valid. However, I'm of the opinion that the education system is a steaming pile as a result of a few simple things:
a) Teacher's Unions protect inept teachers and policies.
b) There's no competition to promote better results.
c) The emphasis on "self esteem" is producing kids that are illiterate, but feel good about it. The "self esteem plague" has also caused a decline in good ole competition, the dumbing down of lessons and requirements to avoid hurting the feelings of the less intelligent, and leaves children unequipped for a world in which everyone is NOT equal in ability and nobody cares how much you love yourself.
d) The Government's top-down style of management and mandates to the slightest detail has killed creativity and ingenuity in the teachers and staff.