55% Say Government Doesn’t Spend Enough on Public Education

Rasmussen Reports ^ | March 8, 2010

[reaganaut1]

While government leaders attempt to tackle budget deficits that are ballooning to historic proportions, 55% of Americans say the government does not spend enough money on public education.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 20% think the government spends too much on public education, while another 21% say the amount it spends is about right.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Democrats and 55% of voters not affiliated with either party say the government does not spend enough, a view shared by just 42% of Republicans.

Among all voters, 45% believe it is more important for the government to aid low-income students than to help the best and brightest pupils, up four points from a survey last May. Twenty-six percent (26%) see helping the best and brightest students as more important. Twenty-nine percent (29%) more are not sure.

Most Democrats (63%) and a plurality (46%) of unaffiliated voters see aiding low-income students as the priority. Republicans are more narrowly divided: 41% say helping the best and brightest is more important, while 26% think the emphasis should be on low-income students.

Married voters are closely divided on the question, too.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of all voters say they have been following recent news reports about proposed cuts in public education funding due to state budget problems.

Last August, only 17% of Americans believed teachers should be asked to take furloughs or pay cuts to help deal with the budget crises that are facing many school systems nationwide.

President Obama has said U.S. children need to spend more time in school to make them more competitive with students from other countries, and 49% of Americans think the president is right. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree.

[boocoowell]

Translation: my local property taxes are too high, so I want everybody else in the country to chip in to pay off the whining teachers’ unions.

Sadly, I think is the crux of the ignorance. Of course you can count on most apartment dwellers to be all for paying teachers more. Most of them don’t realize the costs get passed to them as well.

[christianhomeschoolmommaof3]

What college?

[SoldierDad]

Being a public school employee in CA, it is my opinion that the government, for what we are getting for our money, is spending way way too much on education. IMHO education needs to be just that - teaching children K - 12 that which they need in order to be contributing adults; that is, how to read, how to write, and how to compute mathematics. Education has become less and less about educating children and more and more about indoctrination.

[WOBBLY BOB]

The Statist would argue that private schools can do it much cheaper because they can ‘pick and choose’ who they take.
but this still doesn’t address why it costs MPLS schools over $13k per kid per year. Doesn’t explain why they always need more $ even when enrollment is down.

Tution tax credits or maybe vouchers would solve most our education debacle.

It makes no sense that “state money” (Pell Grants,Stafford loans,GI Bill ,etc) is OK for private colleges , but is not allowed for K-12. Does this magic “Church & State wall” only appear after 12th grade?

[GenXteacher]

It is not that government doesn’t spend enough. It is what it gets spent on. Administrative costs at the district level- assistants to the assistant and so forth- are a big problem. Also, the staggering salaries of school superintendents and the like- a single such person usually comes at the price of several teachers- which do you get the most use out of? Also, efficiency- the sheer amount of paperwork as well as useless things that do not pertain to the classroom- means that the taxpayer’s buck is not being spent on what it is raised for. You pay a guy to teach history- not do paperwork or fill out reports, nor to babysit malcontents. To require such is wasting the taxpayer’s money.

Incidentally- not all of us are union thugs, liberals, communists or other such trash, nor do all of us have a humongous salary and great retirement. (They might up there in them Yankee schools....) Across the board the problems in public education exist to some degree in most places, with the difference being severity.

[wintertime]

Cost per student (non-charter K-12): $10,889
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Double that number! It is likely closer to $20,000!

In my state government school accounting would make an Enron accountant **blush**! What is reported in the official school expense report is merely the operating expenses.

**The cost of retired teachers and the many school employees is **NOT** NOT** NOT** reported in the official school expense.

**Buildings are NOT reported as a school expense but are included in county bond issues and improvements. ( Our county just finished a $70 million dollar Taj Mahal of a high school.

** The government schools use many county services that private schools and charters must pay for themselves. For instance, the police that roam the government school halls are not counted as school expenses, neither are lawn services, or traffic control.

[Carley]

Ras often gives the dems a bone.

[SunkenCiv]

What about the other 49 percent?

Also — was this poll taken in all 57 states?

Thanks reaganaut1.

[SunkenCiv]

Last August, only 17% of Americans believed teachers should be asked to take furloughs or pay cuts to help deal with the budget crises that are facing many school systems nationwide. President Obama has said U.S. children need to spend more time in school to make them more competitive with students from other countries, and 49% of Americans think the president is right. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree.

US children need to spend more time LEARNING, not just going to a cross between a gang-run prison and a hippie-run daycare center.

[votemout]

vouchers

[Peanut Gallery]

Government should not be spending ANY money on education. Education is a states’ right. The moneys should be local or not at all.

[RockinRight]

I think these numbers could easily change, but nobody lets the truth out.

The truth, being, that some of the worst school districts in the nation (DC being a good example) have horrible performance.

The ugly truth: Bad schools are bad, because they’re filled with bad kids. Kids who are bad students because their parents are worthless slobs who place zero value on education. The kids themselves just don’t give a sh*t about school, and NO amount of money will change that.

[Clemenza]

Yep, places like Newark and DC spend five figures PER PUPIL, yet when you work with sh-t, you get sh-t. You could spend $100K per pupil, and not get better results.

[mbynack]

The parent's attitude toward education is a big factor. That's why many second generation Vietnamese students from families that came here in 1975 became outstanding students. The parents were adament that their children take advantage of the educational opportunities in this country.

If the parents attitude is, "I didn't get no schoolin' and I did okay" the student is likely to drop out.

My dad's attitude was - "drop out and I'll kill you. I will drive you to school myself and chain you to a desk before I let you drop out." We had that discussion one time and I never brought it up again. I credit him with anything I ever achieved after that.

[NoNAIS]

I agree with the BS meter here.

We educated 3 last year on a cost of $1921 TOTAL including: English, math, science(s), arts, music, 2 Languages, supplies, our State information, Geography, History, Budgeting/Accounting and Logic.

We paid taxes for other children to go to school ($9,240 per annum is the amount for each child in PS for our county).

I guess we missed the Rhetoric-PC-feel good section of the Educational process.

[mbynack]

Much of this money goes to teachers unions and pension setups that are bankrupting the states. Not to mention have two vice principals in each school, a ton of administrative positions that suck resources away and add to pension burdens.

I was on the school board in California for three years. The school district had more non-teaching people on staff than it did teachers. They had to have several administrators who did nothing but process forms and control tests that were required by the state and the Department of Education.

[mulligan]

If the public really believes that they are, in my opinion, dumber than rocks.

[Vigilanteman]

It is on this list, including the honorable mentions. St. Vincent's is actually in our county and has a very high sticker price, but can be quite affordable once financial aid packages are factored in.

The college my kids go to has a lower sticker price, but also has financial aid packages available. The least expensive college on this list, College of the Ozarks, has an awesome plan but is also very competitive to get into. We looked into it, but picked one of the others.

YAF updates this list every year, but I don't think you can go wrong picking anything on the list, including the honorable mentions. There are probably other great conservative colleges as well.

[WOSG]

Here’s a question to ask the voters:

“How much does it cost to educate a child from K through 12th grade?”

If they guess over $100,000, they are right. I am thinking most dont realize that its that much.

[Labyrinthos]

If you only count the money that is actually used to educate children, then the poll is probably right. The problem is that we spend way to much money on teachers who can't or don't want to teach, unnecessary administrators, bloated pensions and other bennies, parenti loci, pc indoctrination, feel-good classes, and fringe classes that are geared to special interests that are expensive to run, but only effect a small number of students.