In an insightful article on Big Government.com Andrew Coulson of the Cato Institute cuts right to the heart of why we shouldn’t be spending another $23 billion to save public school jobs.
Over the past forty years, public school employment has risen 10 times faster than enrollment. There are only 9 percent more students today, but nearly twice as many public school employees.
Does rolling back the number of public school employees endanger student achievement? Coulson shows how – despite dramatic increases in the number of public school employees and the cost of a public school education (Since 1980,the cost has doubled from $75,000 to $150,000) – the percent change in achievement of 17 year-olds has remained essentially flat.
If we really cared about student achievement, we’d reduce the number of public school jobs and concentrate on factors truly boost student achievement.
For more information about the cost of educating a high school graduate in North Carolina, click here.
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