D.C.'s Distinction: $16,344 Per Student, But Only 12% Read Proficiently

Human Events ^ | March 23 2006

[Reagan Man]

The District of Columbia spends far more money per student in its public elementary and secondary schools each year than the tuition costs at many private elementary schools, or even college-preparatory secondary schools. Yet, District 8th-graders ranked dead last in 2005 in national reading and math tests.

D.C.'s public elementary and secondary schools spent a total of $16,334 per student in the 2002-2003 school year, according to a Department of Education study. That compares to the $10,520 tuition at St. John's College High School, a District Catholic school that sends almost all its graduates to four-year colleges.

Last year, however, only 12% of 8th-graders in the District's public schools scored at grade-level proficiency or better in reading in the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress tests that were administered in the District and all 50 states. Only 7% of the District's public-school 8th-graders scored grade-level proficiency or better in math.

Not one U.S. state can boast that a majority of the 8th-graders in its public schools last year had achieved grade-level proficiency or better in either reading or math.

How much money did your state spend per pupil while failing to adequately educate in reading and math the majority of students in its public schools? The answers are in the chart below.

They eloquently make the case for school choice.

The state spending figures below are the total median expenditure per student as reported in "Revenues and Expenditures by Public School Districts: School Year 2002-03," published by the Department of Education in November 2005. The NAEP 8th-grade reading and math scores were published by the Department of Education in October 2005.

State	Per Pupil Spending	Percentage of 8th-Graders at Proficiency or Better in Reading	Percentage of 8th-Graders at Proficiency or Better in Math
Alaska	$16,665	27%	29%
District of Columbia	$16,344	12%	7%
New York	$13,989	33%	31%
New Jersey	$12,419	37%	36%
Wyoming	$12,116	35%	29%
Delaware	$10,874	31%	30%
Connecticut	$10,765	34%	35%
New Mexico	$10,602	19%	14%
Rhode Island	$10,189	29%	23%
Massachusetts	$9,952	44%	43%
Wisconsin	$9,805	34%	36%
Maine	$9,787	38%	30%
New Hampshire	$9,731	38%	35%
Vermont	$9,614	37%	38%
Maryland	$9,298	30%	30%
Pennsylvania	$9,298	36%	31%
Minnesota	$9,133	37%	43%
Colorado	$8,948	31%	32%
Montana	$8,927	37%	36%
West Virginia	$8,845	22%	17%
Texas	$8,826	26%	31%
Nebraska	$8,714	35%	35%
Indiana	$8,673	28%	30%
Michigan	$8,651	28%	30%
Hawaii	$8,632	18%	18%
Kansas	$8,620	34%	34%
Oregon	$8,577	33%	33%
North Dakota	$8,552	37%	35%
Illinois	$8,465	31%	28%
Nevada	$8,458	22%	21%
Washington	$8,454	34%	36%
Georgia	$8,393	24%	23%
California	$8,262	21%	22%
South Carolina	$8,226	25%	30%
Ohio	$8,208	24%	34%
Virginia	$8,087	35%	33%
South Dakota	$8,001	35%	36%
Iowa	$7,789	34%	34%
Florida	$7,571	25%	26%
Idaho	$7,554	32%	30%
North Carolina	$7,469	27%	32%
Missouri	$7,462	31%	26%
Louisiana	$7,443	20%	16%
Alabama	$6,942	22%	15%
Kentucky	$6,934	31%	22%
Arizona	$6,933	23%	26%
Utah	$6,859	29%	30%
Oklahoma	$6,817	25%	20%
Arkansas	$6,774	26%	22%
Tennessee	$6,460	26%	21%
Mississippi	$6,387	19%	13%

[Eska]

Maybe there should be a little more accountability of those local parents; it all starts in the home.

I have taught in Indian villages where 80% of the parents were drugged out & boozed up most of the time. Kids were all FAS, never pass benchmarks, and over half were dead before the age of 25; maybe alot like DC.

[AD from SpringBay]

So, 44% and 43% for reading and math, respectively, are the highest. That's what's shocking. Early versions of Windows NT were more reliable than that. What, exactly, is wrong with vouchers? Looks to me like we could use a little competition.

[stocksthatgoup]

That's only $136,200 per competent reader. ($16,334/.12=$136,200) The teacher's union is doing just fine.

[Teacher317]

Massachusetts is number one in both categories? I call "Shenanigans!"

[Old Professer]

Right after the big teacher reform in California, I signed up for and took (at a cost of $35) the CBEST exam which was to be required of all new teachers beyond that point in time.

I scored in the top 10% without any preparation at all.

70% of the students or graduates taking that first round failed one or more of the four parts.

In my opinion, the test was at an 8th grade level but did have an essay portion that could be considered subjective.

I had no interest in getting a certificate, I was simply making a point for yet another letter to the editor of my local paper where I was busily exposing the shortcomings of our small city (Simi Valley) schools with special emphasis on the local superintendent.

[Teacher317]

I am an avid pro-capitalist, but adding in competition alone won't change much, other than turnover rates. The kids would quickly learn that the teacher's desperation to get them to perform stems from their desire to remain employed... and there are no better manipulators than 8th graders with compliant parents and a legal system that hamstrings faculty. My guess is that cheating by teachers would increase exponentially, and that real education would remain stagnant.

Give the teachers significant classroom control again, along with that individual responsibility and accountability, and you have a far better chance for realizing true success.

Sadly, that would mean we'd have to actually trust teachers again, and de-fang the lawyers... and neither seems terribly likely in the foreseeable future.

[radiohead]

Can't have these uppity blacks getting any real education

My mother taught in the DC schools, as did most of her female friends. These 'uppity blacks' all sent their kids to Catholic or private schools so they would get an education.

It's too bad that even the teachers wouldn't send their kids to the public schools, but they knew first hand how bad things were. It's not an issue of all the teachers being bad, tho many are; it's more an issue of an increasing inability of teachers to discipline students due to legal constraints, lack of supplies, decaying infrastructure, etc. Good teachers can't always combat an incompetent or corrupt administration.

[ChildOfThe60s]

My daughter took the written test when applying for SFPD recently. She says it was a 10 grade reading/literacy level at best, and finished it in about one half the allotted time.

All of these examples are, of course, anecdotal. But illustrative nonetheless.

But, I have seen some books that I read in grade school being printed again and marketed as young adult reading. Duh.

[FormerACLUmember]

interesting comments.

[ChildOfThe60s]

To me basic mastery of language arts, for example, means being able to read on that grade level, comprehend on that grade level, and master the various grammar concepts for that level. It may be different for someone else.

I am generalizing. And I understand that means I am off the mark at times. But a generalization is not intended to be accurate all of the time.

I agree with your definition of basic mastery. However, the standard for a particular grade level is often not much of a standard. And, I have seen some pretty good examples of smoke and mirrors where the schools show students doing up to snuff work, when in reality they are barely literate.

An example. Every kid that is so called college bound in Florida graduates with calculus and trig successfully completed. Yet 30% of these same kids must take remedial math in order to be accepted into the state university system. So, my question then becomes, how in the world can someone get passing grades in these subjects and need basic remedial math? The answer is that they are not learning what the schools claim they are learning.

I dealt with girls in my daughter's GS troop (my wife the leader) who were getting As and Bs in reading in the 5th grade who had minimal reading skills & had no clue how to sound out a new word thanks to whole word teaching.

I could go on and on. But I dealt with so many teachers and administrators in the school system that lied and cheated like hell to show that they had students meeting grade standards that I am very skeptical of official claims as to any kind of student competence.

[tcrlaf]

But I'll bet they've got thier Perpetual Victim, Marxist Indoctrination, and Stalinist Geography classes down pat!!!!

[LibFreeOrDie]

It appears that some of the DC teachers have been too busy doing other things to care:

http://www.dcpswatch.com/wtu/

[fella]

Our school systems full of corruption and because of union political influence none of our leaders are willing to look into it much less do something about it. All money is just going down a Rat hole.

[Galveston Grl]

Not true for most who are doing poorly on these tests, but some people really can not do well on tests and therefore the tests fail to truly measure their ability to read. Some kids get A's and B's in school on assignments where there is no time limit but do terribly on big aptitude tests.

In life, most of the time we are not under the clock in fifteen minute intravals, to read and react quickly. What matters more in life are people who are willing to do what it takes to do an excellent job. I know we had to have the tests because our schools are so incompetent we needed some incentive for the idiots to teach. But we should not go overboard in thinking the tests mean more than they actually do. I wish we could take all that money as vouchers and establish an independent schooling scheme.

[truemiester]

In many states, California and New York for example, after a tenuring period of 2-4 years a emplyee becomes 'tenured'. These are closed shops and teachers are union memebers. Every tried to fire a union memeber.

Arnold tried a prop to change all this (5 years instead of 2) but it failed miserably.

[truemiester]

"Give the teachers significant classroom control again, along with that individual responsibility and accountability, and you have a far better chance for realizing true success.

Sadly, that would mean we'd have to actually trust teachers again, and de-fang the lawyers... and neither seems terribly likely in the foreseeable future."

Excellent points.
My comment was very simplistic and glibe on a topic that must include many angles. I did not want to get preachy but I did want to make a point.

[mewzilla]

Where is the money going?

Health care, other bennies, and pensions quite probably. They soak up the biggest amount of money in this neck of the woods.

[kabar]

In terms of the scores, it would be interesting to see if there is any correlation on the basis of race and single parent households. It is interesting to note that most of the South is at the bottom in terms of proficiency scores. Massachusetts is number one.

[moog]

I am generalizing. And I understand that means I am off the mark at times. But a generalization is not intended to be accurate all of the time. I agree with your definition of basic mastery. However, the standard for a particular grade level is often not much of a standard. And, I have seen some pretty good examples of smoke and mirrors where the schools show students doing up to snuff work, when in reality they are barely literate.

I have seen it both ways or actually any which way you can to put it mildly. Actually, you can see it a lot from any political entity wanting to make a political point or push an agenda.

An example. Every kid that is so called college bound in Florida graduates with calculus and trig successfully completed. Yet 30% of these same kids must take remedial math in order to be accepted into the state university system. So, my question then becomes, how in the world can someone get passing grades in these subjects and need basic remedial math? The answer is that they are not learning what the schools claim they are learning.

I see somewhat the opposite here, but you are right in stating that it is a problem. I have to wonder if it might include some colleges not understanding the kids AS WELL as the schools FOR SURE. Of course, I throw in personal effort and responsibility into the mix too, not to mention other things.

I dealt with girls in my daughter's GS troop (my wife the leader) who were getting As and Bs in reading in the 5th grade who had minimal reading skills & had no clue how to sound out a new word thanks to whole word teaching.

I agree that whole language is a poor approach to teaching reading. YOU HAVE to have phonics, as they are the building blocks of words. There are a decent amount of generalized phonics rules that a student can learn in order to learn how to "blend" a word. Along with this, there are a few words like could or those with -ough in them that don't fit general words and do have to be dealt with as sight words. I haven't seen the whole language stuff around here in over 10 years. I imagine it may be used elsewhere though, though I do think in many locations some degree of phonics are indeed used. We did have a teacher trainer here say NOT to use phonics rules because there are too many esceptions to some rules. That I thought was bunk.

I could go on and on. But I dealt with so many teachers and administrators in the school system that lied and cheated like hell to show that they had students meeting grade standards that I am very skeptical of official claims as to any kind of student competence.

I could go on and on two as I have seen a LOT of different things from different angles. It's why I decided to DO something about it and get in there and get my feet wet so to speak. It's why I see miracles happen every day and have been witness to countless numbers of them over the years.

[moog]

In many states, California and New York for example, after a tenuring period of 2-4 years a emplyee becomes 'tenured'. These are closed shops and teachers are union memebers. Every tried to fire a union memeber. Arnold tried a prop to change all this (5 years instead of 2) but it failed miserably.

My wife's "probation" period was about 6 months as it is for many jobs around here. Actually, at least around here, teachers' jobs aren't necessarily so secure. If one goes against some of the strict policies, one can be terminated immediately. There are also extensive evaluations every 3 years at which the same thing can happen. I have seen a few lose their jobs. Then, you have people out there looking for anything negative they can find about a teacher. I have seen some good teachers get trashed by someone whose 1 kid didn't have a good experience with the teacher. My own uncle lost his teaching job when some drug-addicted mom accused him of molesting her daughter. He was proven innocent, but the damage had already been done and it took him a LONG time to restore his once solid reputation.

There's another teacher here who has a poor reputation among parents, yet her students always have solid test scores and at least for a few students each year, she is "magic" for them as they really do achieve wonderfully. Do we fire her? I don't know.

There are orderly termination proceedings here for teachers. I do agree that some major modifications have to be made. But I don't want it to be such that just because someone didn't get his/her way or disagrees with the teacher, that the teacher gets fired (particularly in a gossip-prone area such as mine). NO teacher is ever going to satisfy anyhone, much less a principal.

Just a few thoughts. I do come from a long line of teachers and a heritage of stressing the importance of education. My own family and relatives' families have generally had great (educational, vocational, and familial)success in all sorts of circumstances in part because of that legacy. I would rather work together cooperatively and constructively rather than combatively.