Posted on 05/03/2018 5:26:23 AM PDT by reaganaut1
If you’ve ever taken a statistics class, you’ve probably read Darrell Huff’s “How to Lie with Statistics.” Teachers unions appear to have drawn some lessons from the 1954 book. They’re using misleading statistics to rally public support for teacher walkouts in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona and Colorado. Here are some of their distortions.
• They conflate school funding and state education spending. In Oklahoma, unions proclaimed that per pupil school spending fell by 28.2% over the past decade. That refers to the inflation-adjusted state’s general funding formula. But total per pupil outlays increased by 16% in nominal terms between 2006 and 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent public education finance report. Adjusting for inflation, that’s a decline of only about 2%.
On average across the country, state funds make up only 47% of total school spending. Most of the rest comes from local property taxes. Since property tax hikes are politically unpopular, unions put pressure on state lawmakers to increase education spending from general funds. That has the benefit of diffusing accountability for local spending.
• They use elevated spending baselines. Teachers unions nearly always compare school spending and teacher salaries today with peak levels before the great recession, which were inflated like housing prices. Between 2000 and 2009, average per pupil spending across the country increased 52%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. After flat-lining for a few years, per pupil spending ticked up by 7.5% between 2012 and 2015. School spending growth might have slowed over the past several years, but it still increased faster than the consumer price index.
Per pupil funding in Oklahoma shot up 46% between 2000 and 2009. During this period, average teacher salaries rose 52%.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The statistics the education establishment doesn’t want to talk about:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3652257/posts
What’s the old proverb? “There’s lies, damn lies, then there’s statistics....
I urge these teachers to quit and go teach at private schools, where the reality of wages and the real economy is a bound to humble them a bit.
I always liked, “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital”.
Right... you think your job is tough... go work for a private high school.
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” - British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
I have that book..................
Right... you think your job is tough... go work for a private high school.
I taught at a public school for nearly all of my career in public schools, but happily never had to join a union.
OK...can someone help me get around the wall to this article? I’m working on analyzing a $700million budget right now, and this is kind of describing what I was trying to do yesterday....look at trends...which is nearly impossible if you are a member of the “public”....I’m on the Budget Committee...but it’s a joke
I got a copy while my Dad was taking MBA at Indiana around 1955. Kept and used it for years. Simple valuable info. Always thought about it when I presented or listened to presentations.
It works great, shifting funds like this to increase defined benefit plans for example and provide Cadillac retirements, until the math doesn't work and the fund goes broke.
Mine is also very old, circa early 50’s...........
“I only believe statistics I doctored myself.”- Winston Churchill
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