Will someone who supports increased state spending on schools please show me one study that proves more spending results in better student achievement? Not the so-called ”research” that compares per-pupil spending in Winnetka with per-pupil spending in Chicago. Give me something rigorous, something that allows for the myriad other differences between suburban and inner-city schools. Is spending truly significant in light of those differences?
All the scholarly research I have seen finds that spending levels have no impact on student achievement. And our own Chicago schools provide a telling case in point. Per-student spending by the Chicago public schools is three times the per-student spending of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago-yet students in the latter system perform consistently better than students in the city schools.
Advocates of increased education spending haven`t a clue as to why schools fail to educate their students. Giving more money to a failing school system is like gold-plating a garbage truck. In the end, all you get is more expensive garbage.
