Comments on Thoughts on Education Policy: Redux: Is Education Spending Really Skyrocketing?

Great report! I appreciated the insight and resea...

2009-05-03T13:52:00.000-05:00

Great report! I appreciated the insight and research. I've been one of those on the complaining end of "spending increases while achievement stagnates", and this was very insightful for me. Nancy's comment was spot on too.

This is amazing to see because I just got my prope...

2008-11-17T05:26:00.000-06:00

This is amazing to see because I just got my property tax bill and 9o% of my taxes go to the school district. I think there needs to be better handling of the money that they do get.

A few years ago, I was on a panel at a national co...

2008-11-11T20:06:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, I was on a panel at a national conference on teacher effectiveness. One of the other panelists was trying to make the point that education expenditures (including teacher salaries) continued to rise, but we weren't getting better results from the increase in expenditures.
Finally, he said "Education costs have tripled since 1975! Tripled!"

I was a new teacher in 1975, and I bought my first new car that year--a Toyota Corolla, for which I paid slightly less than $4000. (I'm clear on that, because it was also my first loan.) In 2005, a new Corolla (basic, no frills) cost about $14,000. The items that didn't triple in price quadrupled.

Americans are not known for their belief in long-term investment in knowledge and personnel, but you can often get them to pay for stuff. I live in a district that voted to build a new $70 million high school, which now sits empty because there are not enough operating funds. Sure looks nice when you drive by, however.