The theory that increased spending produces a commensurate improvement in a school’s educational product has been called a "durable delusion."
Its durability stems in part from the fact that the public education industry subscribes to this materialist theory.
However, a longstanding body of research disproves it.
In 1966 sociologist James Coleman’s groundbreaking report on education refuted policies that focused on per-pupil spending, teachers’ salaries and pupil-teacher ratios.
The report said:
Schools are remarkably similar in the effect they have on the achievement of their pupils when the socioeconomic background of the students is taken into account.....the powerful predictors of schools’ performances are the qualities of the pupils’ families.
Twenty-five years later, an official of the Educational Testing Service estimated that about 90 percent of the differences among the proficiency of public schools can be explained by five variables:
number of parents in the home
days absent from school
hours spent watching television
quantity and quality of reading matter in the home
amount of homework done.
No where was spending per pupil a factor.
Similarly, there is scant evidence that much good is done by lowering class sizes by a few students: "Often that simply increases the attention each pupil gets from an inadequately trained teacher."
Source: Washington Post
Published: 2/01/01 Author: George Will
