Okay, let’s use your numbers. We’re spending 50% more in real terms than we did 30 years ago to achieve the same results. Two possibilities come to mind. Either it’s a Red Queen’s Race or the numbers are cooked. I lean towards the latter.
Also note that real wages have been flat over that period. That means we’re spending an increasing proportion of our income on K-12 education without improving results.
If you use the numbers from 1990-2018 provided in your two references you have a 29.6% increase in educational spending and a 12.1% increase in wages. (I used 19.90 for 1990 since it looks below the $20 line and I liked ht idea of the 2 numbers being the same.)
Also, I am too lazy to go look it up right now but shouldn’t we actually be looking at average pay increases for equivalent people who work in schools. Pretty sure that wages for those with a bachelor’s degree have increased faster than the average increase in pay for all workers.
Dave Schuler: We’re spending significantly more in real terms per pupil but not achieving better results from it.
The NAEP for mathematics has increased for younger students since 1970. The NAEP for reading also increased, except for the lowest decile *. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt/?age=9
* The lowest decile include many students for whom English is a second language.
So we have had significant improvements, especially in math. We are paying more, but adjusting for educational level its not a whole lot more than expected. The question then would be if the improvements were with the small increase in spending.
BTW, this inspired to me to look at PISA scores again. For a couple of years they did PISA scores for some individual states. Massachusetts, if it had been a country would have ranked about 7th in the world if it was a country. Once you realize that “China” really means 2 or 3 select cities and Macau and Singapore shouldn’t count then MA is like 2nd or 3rd. Not bad.
Dave Schuler: Real per pupil spending has tripled over that period.
Total expenditure per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1990 to 2019
Okay, let’s use your numbers. We’re spending 50% more in real terms than we did 30 years ago to achieve the same results. Two possibilities come to mind. Either it’s a Red Queen’s Race or the numbers are cooked. I lean towards the latter.
Also note that real wages have been flat over that period. That means we’re spending an increasing proportion of our income on K-12 education without improving results.
If you use the numbers from 1990-2018 provided in your two references you have a 29.6% increase in educational spending and a 12.1% increase in wages. (I used 19.90 for 1990 since it looks below the $20 line and I liked ht idea of the 2 numbers being the same.)
Also, I am too lazy to go look it up right now but shouldn’t we actually be looking at average pay increases for equivalent people who work in schools. Pretty sure that wages for those with a bachelor’s degree have increased faster than the average increase in pay for all workers.
Steve
steve: 29.6% increase in educational spending and a 12.1% increase in wages.
15002/10718 = 40% increase in per pupil spending
22.65/19.90 = 14% increase in wages
40% << tripled
steve: wages for those with a bachelor’s degree
Wage increases by educational attainment explain some of the increase. Public schools have traditionally benefited from the generally low wages for women, but that discount has decreased over time. In addition, the number of personnel per student has increased.
Took a look for the origin of the “tripled” cost per pupil. That would be over the much longer period starting in about the 1960s.
The point of the post remains. We’re spending significantly more in real terms per pupil but not achieving better results from it.
Dave Schuler: We’re spending significantly more in real terms per pupil but not achieving better results from it.
The NAEP for mathematics has increased for younger students since 1970. The NAEP for reading also increased, except for the lowest decile *.
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt/?age=9
* The lowest decile include many students for whom English is a second language.
So we have had significant improvements, especially in math. We are paying more, but adjusting for educational level its not a whole lot more than expected. The question then would be if the improvements were with the small increase in spending.
Steve
BTW, this inspired to me to look at PISA scores again. For a couple of years they did PISA scores for some individual states. Massachusetts, if it had been a country would have ranked about 7th in the world if it was a country. Once you realize that “China” really means 2 or 3 select cities and Macau and Singapore shouldn’t count then MA is like 2nd or 3rd. Not bad.
Steve