$19, 652, per NJ DOE in 2015. That, remember, is the average. Some school districts spend more, some less.
What apalls me is that we have seen a steep inxrease in spending for education in the last 30 years and educational achievement has been, at best, flat.
We aren't first for three big reasons.
1.) Spending does not equal achievement. It just doesn't. 2.) US schools generally skew towards academics in a way that disadvantages students who might be tracked in other ways in Europe. 3.) Very poor urban and rural schools and schools with a large proportion of immigrant students perform so poorly and are often managed so badly that they drop the overall average score. Controlling for these districts puts the US close to the top. What we have is an overall decent system with pockets of truly abysmal achievement. And lest you think the schools of poor urban areas are failing because the schools are under funded, consider this: In Camden, NJ per student spending was nearly $30,000 in 2015. Any attempt to rethink education in these areas, on the Finnish model or otherwise is met with intense wopposition by entrenched bureaucracies, teachers unions and politicians.
no subject
What apalls me is that we have seen a steep inxrease in spending for education in the last 30 years and educational achievement has been, at best, flat.
We aren't first for three big reasons.
1.) Spending does not equal achievement. It just doesn't.
2.) US schools generally skew towards academics in a way that disadvantages students who might be tracked in other ways in Europe.
3.) Very poor urban and rural schools and schools with a large proportion of immigrant students perform so poorly and are often managed so badly that they drop the overall average score. Controlling for these districts puts the US close to the top. What we have is an overall decent system with pockets of truly abysmal achievement. And lest you think the schools of poor urban areas are failing because the schools are under funded, consider this: In Camden, NJ per student spending was nearly $30,000 in 2015. Any attempt to rethink education in these areas, on the Finnish model or otherwise is met with intense wopposition by entrenched bureaucracies, teachers unions and politicians.