Will more $ improve education?
Friday, October 10th, 2008 By Beth Lear
A bevy of school levies will be showing up on ballots all around the state next month. Will taxpayers support them during these days of economic uncertainty? Maybe a more important question is, can more money fix the problems we have in public education?
David W. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow in Education Policy for the Buckeye Institute, has written an eye-opening article that details the astronomical increases in government education costs and the corresponding LACK of academic improvement.
Kirkpatrick writes about a stunning, albeit atypical, example of these increases in spending. In the Bridgehampton School District on Long Island, per pupil spending averaged $24,593 in the 2000-2001 school year. That amount increased to $71,326 by July 2007. He then points out that, in spite of the obvious wealth of the district, “…not everyone shared in the wealth. 54% of its students are minority, and 31% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Despite the huge expense, and one teacher for every 3.7 students, and class sizes ranging from 5 to 12, students in the district scored below the state average on both the elementary and middle-school English and math Regents examination“.
Here in Ohio, our schools need elected officials who are willing to tackle the tough issues of real education reform. Taxpayers need a break, parents deserve choices and schools must have more freedom to innovate, fewer regulations and fewer mandates. Perhaps 2009 will be the year education reform is taken seriously. It will be at the Buckeye Institute.
