There are Some Things $2 Billion Cannot Buy
When the mainstream media wants a different perspective on an issue, you know, other than the “let’s tax and spend, and then tax some more” stance, they come to us. This time 9News was doing a piece on school bond elections and accordingly, came to our education policy analyst Ben DeGrow to get his take on asking voters for yet more money this coming November. Proposing another $350 million bond and an additional $32 million mill levy increase – as JeffCo, the state’s largest school district is considering – can create a sticky situation, especially during an economic downturn. Furthermore, as Ben points out, it’s not exactly like Colorado school districts are hurting for money. We stand at a respectable 26th in education funding, NOT 49th. And even if that were not the case, Ben rightly states,
“Most studies show, there’s no connection between how much is spent and what the results are as far as student tests,” said DeGrow.
The most famous, and possibly most in-depth attempt to throw money at education to increase performance was the 1985-1997 Kansas City Experiment.
The results were dismal. Test scores did not rise; the black-white gap did not diminish; and there was less, not greater, integration.
Not even $2 billion over 12 years could buy performance. Shocking, I know. So what’s the solution? Well, let’s ask the expert, Ben.
DeGrow says, instead, people should be asking districts how it can spend the money it already has more efficiently instead of trying to fix all problems by throwing more money into the system.
….What a novel idea.
