More Stats this time from A.L.E.C.

Here is a great Source of Education Statistics by State:

American Legislative Exchange Council

2007 Report Card on
American Education
A STATE BY STATE ANALYSIS

http://www.heartland.org/pdf/23054.pdf

From School Reform News

A new report from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in March confirms Neal McCluskey's point, examining the effectiveness of spending as an educational reform solution. The 2007 Report Card on American Education reviews trends in educational spending and academic achievement.

"The historical data show we've been trying to buy our way out of low performance and it hasn't paid off." explained Matt Warner, director of ALEC's Education Task Force. "For example, class size reduction is a popular reform with a big price tag. But today's classes are already, on average, 15% smaller than they were 20 years ago, yet test scores haven't kept pace with the dollars invested.

"As a nation, we are spending, in constant dollars, 54% more than we did in the 1980's and our test scores are a mixed bag," Warner said. "The answer is not more money-we need real reform."

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Let us not forget the cost of housing that has risen far more than inflation.
At one time a non-employed parent at home was common. Now the non-employed parent is becoming the exception.

There is no free lunch - who is raising the kids and at what cost?

Certainly many educational administrative leaders make extremely poor choices, but that hardly changes the fact that there are societal structural problems that are NOT being addressed.