For D.C. Schools, More Money Does Not Mean Better Quality

Via the Washington Examiner:

Educating a public school student in the Washington, D.C., region costs taxpayers about 45 percent more than it did in 2002, according to district budget figures, with that robust influx of dollars funding only modest gains in student performance.

The region's per-student expenditure was about $14,240 in 2009, using comparable numbers from D.C. Public Schools, Montgomery and Prince George's county schools, and Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria City schools. In 2002, it was about $9,800.

It's true that spending has increased in Virginia and Maryland as well as D.C., but in the nation's capitol, at least, all that extra taxpayer money hasn't prevented the school system from being ranked as one of the worst (if not the worst) in the country. Just goes to show that money doesn't solve everything. Apparently, D.C. has yet to recognize that fact. And until they do, taxpayers will be paying the price.

Reason's archive on D.C. public schools here. 

Comments

[Jaybird]

"Rich" districts don't need to waste money on metal detectors and so they can spend more money on new copies of Watership Down.

Those kids in the DC schools need those metal detectors and so the "more money per student" doesn't take into account purchases of things that "rich" districts don't have to buy in the first place.

[brotherben]

The picture of the little colored boy is a nice gesture.

[JB]

But DC likes the bling. Doesn't matter if the money achieves anything. The spending makes them 'feel' better about themselves.

[R C Dean]

I'm going to say Jaybird is being snarkconic. But he's rockin' a nice deadpan.

[wayne]

so, what is DC's problem? They spend a lot to educate each student, but they achieve poor results. Is it endemic poverty?

[Pro Libertate]

D.C.'s problem: Too much damned government.

[J sub d]

Publicly funded, but not government provided, is the way to go for K-12 edumacation.

Yeah, vouchers. Redeemable at both the Ayn Rand elementary schools and your local madrassas.

And D.C. ain't got shit on Detroit when it comes to public school disaster stories.

[Kevin]

wayne, the answer is the same as everywhere else. Kids' success in school is only as good as their parents' involvement, and the seriousness of the students. No amount of money or high tech classrooms can change that.

[lunchstealer]

Devil's advocate: The increase has led, according to the article, to 'modest gains'. So more money did, in one sense, lead to better quality. Just not much better.

[Anonymous]

You lose the argument when you tacitly agree government-funded -- and worse, federally-regulated -- and mandatory "school" is hunky dory.

The same goes for censorship, weapon bans, nationalized medicine, nationalized banks, and half-nationalized industry. The socialist press of any age is adept at creating the false dichotomy between levels of socialism, to which they add an arrow that points at "progress".

[The Angry Optimist]

anonymous - yeah, and ponies are nice too. But anything that will help break up the monopoly provides instantaneous and recognizable gains, but allows the liberals to still talk about how we "provide" schooling for everyone.

I don't like it, either. But let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[Anonymous]

But let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

The thing about it is, it seems like it would be a lot easier to create an anti-school-district than to fix any of the other things. Like a HOA that does nothing but prohibit another HOA from existing, or a MUD that consists of a water fountain in a park but encompasses an entire county, or a State that refuses all federal monies: a self-defense contract that, when working properly, displaces something worse.

I know I don't understand how a school district works, but I hear nothing of this beyond Free State Wyoming (and precious little of that) because these conditions are accepted so deeply, even if they're acutely locally controllable.

I shall call it gulching in place, and it will be good, yea.

[lunchstealer]

Also median income and distributions of parental education are going to play a role in determining how much it may cost to educate X percentage of the student body to Y educational level.

I don't think that it takes a rocket surgeon to determine that it takes more money to educate the children of poor, uneducated families to a 10th grade level than the children of affluent, well educated families.

The flipside is that no matter how much money you spend, some of those children from impoverished and uneducated families are going to end up impoverished and uneducated, and probably a higher percentage than the children from the educated and affluent families.

It probably makes a great deal of sense to compare spending rates in DC schools to, for example, spending rates and performance statistics in the Dallas ISD, or Baltimore schools, where rates of affluence and parental education may be similar, than it is to compare to suburbs with higher concentrations of well off and well educated families.

Not that DC schools don't suck, and that government policies aren't likely to blame, but let's compare apples to apples.

[Space Fiend]

A much better case-study of the futility of throwing money at poor schools full of children who don't want to learn would be Kansas City Missouri. I've lost my sources over the years, but maybe five years ago, the State [of MO] was throwing so much money at the KCMO school district they literally couldn't spend it all. They built a world-class planetarium. They sent _TAXIS_ to "bus" white kids to integrate schools. At some schools, the ratio of computers to students was over 1.0. In other schools, the student-teacher ratio was under 10!

....and two years later the district lost North Central accreditation and its diplomas became worthless.

We all know no amount of government pressure can change the fundamentals, and in many inner-city places, students fundamentally don't have a will to learn.

* I believe Thomas Sowell wrote about this in a book or two. But I grew up just over the river in Kansas, and saw it happen to people I knew, generally average-income people who got trapped on the wrong side of a state line.

[Kroneborge]

I don't know, I think a case can definitely be made for spending public money on schools. I think of it kind of like preventive policing. If I educate the neighbors kid he's less likely to break into my house. Also, maybe later he will shop at my store etc.

So yeah I can see the point of public funding for schools. But we need to get the competition back in to get real progress.

[Rhywun]

Is it endemic poverty?

It's a little of that, and a little of all that extra money going into teacher's pockets (and pensions) without any expectation of showing something for it. At least that's what's happening here in NYC.

[robc]

Usually, when the spending is that high, you can track it down to the ratio of high-priced administrators to moderately-priced teachers.

Compare the ratio of administrators to teachers at a private school vs a public school system.

[Gabe]

All that extra money could easily go towards funding the massive black hole called "unfunded pension liabilities". Look at teh pension programs and it is hard to figure out why all extra money will be chasing good money after bad.

The kids can't learn to read or do math, because if they did they'd be leading a revolution.

[HeadTater]

3 words: Performance Based Salary

The better the students learn, the better the teachers are paid. Simple as that. Of course, the teachers' unions will never support something like that because God forbid people earn based on the quality of the service provided.

Ever notice how private schools do so much better and have much higher test scores? Privatize Privatize Privatize

[brotherben]

HeadTater. agreed. I'll take a job teaching first grade in a school where, say, 95% of the kiddies have had 3 years of preschool, come from upper middle class 2 parent households and are well fed, well dressed and well behaved. You take the job teaching first grade in the school where most of the kids are undernourished, poorly dressed from single parent lower class homes. Your kids have no pre-school and most have no idea what letters or numbers are and are undisciplined with a severe lack of self-control.

Don't complain if I make more money based upon my student's progress.

[mark]

My mom was on the Board of Ed in my home town, and she fought tooth and nail against every charter school proposal, as they threatened to take 90% of per-pupil spending from the district, for every student accepted by charter schools. Apparently that was unfair or something. I could never figure out why she was so passionate about the issue, other than teacher's union brainwashing, but let me tell you she really cared about public schools.

[mark]

Actually, I can add one detail. Charter schools could refuse whichever students they wanted, while public schools were forced to take every special needs child. This apparently threatened the entire foundation of public schooling. As you can imagine, my mom is a Democrat. Please don't make fun of her.

[The Angry Optimist]

brotherben, where did he say anything about making the numbers the same? If the metrics are "raise X by Y amount by Z year", that puts each teacher in the same place, regardless of the starting points of the students.

you act like performance-based pay would require the same outcome. It would just require the same results, and those are two different things.

[brotherben]

There was an article a couple weeks ago in The Idaho Statesman about a state run charter school in Nampa Idaho(iirc) that was using the Bible as a "textbook" in one of the classes. It was created a tiny little shitstorm.

Idaho is funny about such things. The LDS church is pretty powerful there. I remember in middle school and high school in Weiser Id the mormon kids would go across the street to a church run building during school to attend seminary classes. I don't know if it is still that way.

[brotherben]

TAO, it would create a problem down here when all the kids have to pass exit exams in 5 subjects to get a diploma. At some point, the results have to be equal.

[The Angry Optimist]

well, exit exams are part of the problem, although they do at least require a base of knowledge. You certainly do not want to make it so subjective that high-school diplomas from certain areas have an automatic reputation, do you?

[cmh0114]

I think exit exams are a good thing. You need to make sure that students learn. I know that it puts a lot more stress on students around that time, but I think it would be good for the school systems, and I know plenty of other high school students who agree with me.
As for the reputation, if I get a diploma from a school that's known to have a really tough exit exam vs getting a diploma from a school that has no exit exams and really lenient final exams, then of course I want the "automatic reputation."

[Fluffy]

I don't think that it takes a rocket surgeon to determine that it takes more money to educate the children of poor, uneducated families to a 10th grade level than the children of affluent, well educated families.

OK, I'll bite: how?

Education dollars are spent on personnel and facilities.

Has the additional money in DC been spent on facilities that eclipse their suburban counterparts? No.

Has the additional money in DC been spent to create a much lower student / teacher ratio than exists in the suburbs? No.

The additional monies aren't being spent on materials or services that reach the student level. You know it, I know it.

The additional monies are spent because urban school districts don't just have the mission of educating kids. They have the additional, not-so-secret mission of providing public employment on a large scale for urban constituencies. Junior grade Marion Barry types need jobs, and they get them in the DC public school system.

[brotherben]

We've disagreed on this before. It is the opinion of several posters here that the problem is mostly due to the union and the public school system. It is my opinion that the problem is mostly due to the breakdown of family in the U.S. that results in parents not preparing their children for school.

[Dedicated Teacher]

If that money was spent on higher teacher pay the DC schools would be a success.

[NEA/AFT]

Smaller class sizes would provide for more dedicated teachers.

[Underzog]

Hey UNreason Magazine!

Your expert for Middle Eastern affairs -- the anti-Israeli anti-Semitic, Juan Cole -- now compares Sarah Palin to Achmadinijad (if so, why does the creep not support her?).

This is the idiot so-called "Reason Magazine" uses to comment on Israeli affairs.

Of course, your readership is even worse with all the Ernst Rhoem wannabes about.

"There's no need to fear. Underzog is here."

The Jewish Defense League Marching Song

[The Angry Optimist]

Drink!

[brotherben]

and just when it seemed so pleasant around here

[robc]

It is my opinion that the problem is mostly due to the breakdown of family in the U.S. that results in parents not preparing their children for school.

No amount of money can fix that.

Spending money on something unfixable is a colossal waste.

[brotherben]

robc,
agreed and agreed.

[robc]

brotherben,

agreed and agreed.

So what was your problem with pay for performance then? Think of the lesser schools as the minor leagues. Teachers start there and if they show they can succeed somewhat there they get called up to the bigs and make more money.

[Rich]

If I educate the neighbors kid he's less likely to break into my house.

So, public education is a protection racket?

Perhaps I'm better off just paying the kid directly rather than wasting my money on superfluous stuff.

[squarooticus]

I don't know, I think a case can definitely be made for spending public money on schools. I think of it kind of like preventive policing. If I educate the neighbors kid he's less likely to break into my house.

I prefer the burbclave model: criminals can't rob my house if they can't get to it, and it's a whole fuckload cheaper than paying to educate everyone, including those who don't want to be educated.

[The Angry Optimist]

although I hate the burbs, if and when I have children, I am with squarooticus. Cities just FAIL at providing anything approaching livability any more.

[squarooticus]

TAO: burbclave doesn't necessarily imply suburb: it could be a gated apartment complex within a larger city.

I personally prefer smaller cities over suburbs in terms of livability: small enough that it doesn't take 2 hours to get outside the metro area, but big and dense enough to support lots of "stuff" within easy biking distance of one's residence.

[Anonymous]

It is the opinion of several posters here that the problem is mostly due to the union and the public school system. It is my opinion that the problem is mostly due to the breakdown of family in the U.S. that results in parents not preparing their children for school.

Yes, and the latter mostly precipitates the former, because it's a societal breakdown that allows it to happen (and courts government privileges in lieu of freedom). And you can't legislate society back to good times, I think we'll all agree, though we could lessen its speed downward by eliminating wealth redistributions and tax code that encourages government to take the role of sugar daddy.

But when the media, if one takes it at least partially as representative of popular sentiment, represents vouchers, which don't even reduce the tax theivery, as an oppression and drain on "public" funds... well, you have quite a way to go to logical discourse, much less to any improvement.

tl;dr: hulk smash

[Episiarch]

Underzog spun the cap back on the Concord Grape Manischewitz, then decided to take another swig. If muter thought he was such a boychick, why did she let him use the computer? He was no schmendrik, after all--that's why mume would kvell when he kvetched about the meshuggene over on that web site full of "libertarian" goyim who he would potch around like a bunch of nebbishes.

He heard her coming and quickly shoved the bottle back into the pantry.

[The Angry Optimist]

But when the media, if one takes it at least partially as representative of popular sentiment, represents vouchers, which don't even reduce the tax theivery, as an oppression and drain on "public" funds... well, you have quite a way to go to logical discourse, much less to any improvement.

Ah, something to use against the ignorant jocks and dumb blondes who comprise 99% of the teaching population next time.

[Enyap]

Could anybody explain how merit based pay wouldn't lead to teachers lowering standards, the only solution I can see to that is standardized testing, and most seem to be against that.

[The Angry Optimist]

Enyap - have merit-based salaries in other aspects of American societies led to lower-standard fare?

Of course they haven't. Not to invoke an old cliche, but have you taken Econ 100?

[brotherben]

TAO and robc, there are too many variables with the levels of teachability in the students to use a merit pay system IMO. I have a friend whose wife was a first grade teacher in a very low income rural district. She claimed to have students come to school that had never seen a book. They had no concept at all of reading. My kids, otoh, could read and write with comprehension when they went into first grade. Both sets of kids would have to reach the same level to pass into 2nd grade. My friends wife has a very very difficult task. My kids' teachers could basically stay home for the year because my kids were already at the level necessary.

[brotherben]

oops. In the situation I described, the teacher with the poor students should get a much higher salary, right?

[The Angry Optimist]

Dude, brotherben, no offense, but I hear that excuse constantly. Teaching children really is not that difficult. "ZOMG - you get some rednecks in there who have never seen a book!"

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not to say that anyone's lying when they say that, but they are exaggerating.

And, again, brotherben, you're assuming that it would be based on individual student performance. It needn't. Perhaps you could say "pass percentage X of students into Grade Y - here are the qualifications".

The number of categorical retards who go into teaching tells me that it could use some competition.

[brotherben]

TAO, I agree that there are a lot of real shitty teachers. Down here, it seems the ones that are 3 or 4 years from retirement are the absolute worst. They know they would have to commit murder to get canned and the just don't give a fuck about teaching. Just wanna get them days in and retire. But I also know that there are a lot of kids that are not interested in learning and that are a real disruptive force in the classroom. The teacher's hands are tied when it comes to discipline and the kids know it. The parents don't give a damn, unless little johnny gets cut from the football team or susy can't be a spirit leader. It makes for an environment that isn't appropriate for performance based pay.

[Gabe]

"... there are a lot of kids that are not interested in learning ...The teacher's hands are tied ...The parents don't give a damn, ... It makes for an environment that isn't appropriate for performance based pay...."

What a sob story. Let the teachers quit if they don't like performance pay...if the parents don't care then at least let them have more football coaches and every girl can get a cheerleading uniform. They learn just as much and perhaps some good teachers or principles would make some money and bring in some teachers willing to try their methods. More importantly think of all the pension spending we'd save on.

Of course I am against public schools.

[Kaitian]

Idaho is funny about such things. The LDS church is pretty powerful there. I remember in middle school and high school in Weiser Id the mormon kids would go across the street to a church run building during school to attend seminary classes. I don't know if it is still that way.

That's everywhere actually. Some high schools allow students to take seminary during the school day while others do seminary right before high school starts (normally at 6AM). It's allowed because it doesn't count at all towards their graduation requirement. So it doesn't violate SoCS.

[rm2muv]

Merit Pay! Pay for Performance! Lots of Shitty Teachers! Teaching children is not that difficult! Yeah, yeah, yeah...

A while back a study showed that most parents gave their own childrens schools and teachers an average grade of B+. Now throw out the whiners whose little angel can do no wrong and always tell the truth and I'd say a rating like that would merit performance pay.

I've been an elementary educator for thirty-one years. Hundreds of my students have gone on to college and highly successful careers. Hundreds more went to work right after high school and work successfully at all sorts of jobs. A handful didn't make it through high school, and a few went bad. Lots of kids didn't score well on standardized tests. That didn't mean they weren't learning, but some had to figure out that they weren't going to work for NASA.

Public schools built the workforce that powers this country. The real elitists here are those who would deny kids a chance at a quality education that is offered by great teachers throughout the public schhols of America. Thankfully, lots of top notch people come into education DESPITE the low pay and lack of respect for their profession. But, if there is a strong demand for higher quality teachers, would it not seem that the free market would have to pay more to attract them?

D.C. schools are a world of their own. If there were easy answers, I'm pretty sure they would have been found by now. IMHO smallers schools with greater autonomy for the teachers and principals would allow the development of a variety of workable strategies to improve student performance. It must be understood, however, that the most highly corelated indicator of test performance is family income. Plus, the tests suck. If anyone here has not had the opportunity to see the test questions, you ought to try.

Finally, I'm one of those teachers nearing retirement. Some of my students this year will probably think I'm a big meanie. But a few years from now, maybe they'll buy me a beer at the local pub, just like their dads.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Teaching children is not that difficult!

I don't think anyone with a good idea of the process of education would say that. Teaching, like parenting is obviously a huge pain in the ass. And I agree with brotherben in that many of the students in underperforming schools have parents who failed them first.

I grew up in the public schools of the blue-collar 'burbs and looking back I think I had mostly great teachers, with a few mediocre ones thrown in for flavor. FWIW, and not much, I'm thinking about becoming a teacher. In the proverbial ideal world, teachers, like parents, would only come to the position/profession for the "right" reasons.

I'm sure you're a great teacher at any rate, rm2muv.

[Art-P.O.G.]

Oh, and I know teaching's a pain in the ass because I clearly recall being one of those kids who, although somewhat bright, was definitely a pain in the ass at times.

[Art-P.O.G.]

And also kind of a dullard at times, hyuk, hyuk, hyuk...

[The Angry Optimist]

Art and rm2muv - if he's such a great teacher, then what the hell is he afraid of when it comes to merit pay?

Sorry, but teachers have dug their own grave when it comes to "disrespect for the profession", largely because of the reasons Gabe has outlined: they get like whiny, stubborn mules and get their little noses all out of joint if you dare make ONE suggestion that we should try our school programs differently.

Make it easier to fire bad teachers? Most will say "fine" and then defend every bad teacher who comes up on the block.

Performance Pay? "Waaa! Too many problems! Won't work!"

Year-Round School? Like we even need to guess what the response to that is.

Vouchers? "You're stealing from the poor schools and students!"

[Whitey]

Think for a moment what D.C. schools might be if the city were majority Asian instead of majority black. Yeah, I know, it's "racist" to point out that "Asian-Americans" place education a bit higher on the values scale than do "African-Americans."

[Fluffy]

Here's the problem with your argument, rm2muv:

Indexes of satisfaction with the local public school haven't moved in a long time.

And you seem to be arguing that the standardized tests are meaningless, because children of affluent families do well and children of poor families do poorly no matter what the school does.

But let's say we stipulate that you're right about these things. Why on Earth should we raise your salary? Ever? Why are we increasing the dollar inputs per student in the public schools, even after adjusting for inflation?

People were just as satisfied with their local school at lower levels of per-student spending.

And you just said that family income determines the outcome, not anything the school does.

So what the hell are we increasing your pay for? Why are we increasing local taxes?

[Douglas Fletcher]

They need to import nuns to teach in the DC schools.

You can't fuck with a nun, so to speak.

[Rich]

They need to import nuns to teach in the DC schools.

IMPORT?! Buy American, Douglas! 😉

[Art-P.O.G.]

Yeah, I know, it's "racist" to point out that "Asian-Americans" place education a bit higher on the values scale than do "African-Americans."

It's not racist and it's not class prejudice if you acknowledge that you're speaking in generalities. There are definitely poor black people with a hell of a work ethic regarding education, but by and large, you and Bill Cosby awould seem to be right.

[crimethink]

Until we can acknowledge that not all people, and not all peoples, have equal intellectual ability, the whole education discussion will be full of obfuscation.

And of course I'm speaking in generalities!

[Jordan]

"... there are a lot of kids that are not interested in learning

Make it easy to expel them and make school no longer compulsory. Problem solved.

[Nick]

I'd be a teacher if NY State didn't make it so hard to become one. I have a BS in Geography, and could teach any high schoolers any of the social sciences, and most junior high schoolers math, science, or English. It's not that hard to do when you have books and other teaching materials to follow even if you're not proficient in the subject.

But the state says I have to have a Master's Degree. It takes two full years to get one, plus because NY doesn't recognize my degree as being qualified for entry into their master's program, I'd have to do 2 years of undergraduate "teaching" coursework to prepare me. I could walk into a classroom today and teach subjects I know, but I'm not going back to school full time for 4 years to make the same money I'm making now. That's ridiculous.

[Oatwhore]

Capital = city

Capitol = building

[ChrisO]

Living in the area (but with no children), I've read a bit about the DC school system over the years. I would divide its problems into several categories:

Corruption. That doesn't just mean people on the take (though that happens), but also patronage hiring in the administrative offices. For a long time, being Marion Barry's friend meant getting a very cushy gig, indeed.

Facilities. The number of schoolkids in DC has been dropping for decades, as families with any means at all (of all races) have been leaving in droves. However, the DC school system is burdened with dozens of old and crappy school buildings that require much more maintenance and upkeep than a new building would. Every time the district tries to close under-attended schools, parents and neighborhood commissions scream bloody murder. Facilities are also the first place that gets underfunded, so that the system can put more Friends of Marion Barry on the payroll. Once a building rots, fixing it becomes way more expensive.

Cultural issues. No one likes to talk about this, but the culture of education in the African-American community is not as strong (IMHO) as in other groups. Personally, I think that is changing, but cultural attitudes don't change overnight. I don't believe it has anything to do with learning capacity or whatever.

Poverty. Personally I don't think is as big a factor as the cultural issues, but there's no doubt that a kid who doesn't even get breakfast at home in the morning isn't going to be very receptive in the classroom.

Political correctness. You can't expel or discipline the troublemakers anymore. Districts have to spend a crazy percentage of the budget on federally mandated special-ed programs that benefit a small percentage of children.

[Joshua]

Will the Mayor get his sons' uniforms from the new store that wants to cater to DC Schools?
DC's First School Uniform Store to Open August 10, 2009

DC's Mayor is making good on his promise to send his sons to public school this fall. And when classes begin, the boys, along with 45,000 other DCPS students, will need new uniforms. Earlier this year, guidelines were laid out for a more stringent uniform policy-which studies have shown to improve student discipline, attendance and retention-but in the past parents usually had to venture out to Maryland to purchase the mandatory attire.

Enter Octavia Taylor Jackson, a mother of three young boys who attend DC public schools. After a layoff in late March, she put into motion a plan she had begun working on months before. Jackson, a native Washingtonian, has held well-paying jobs in the government, corporate and nonprofit sectors, but found her calling in entrepreneurship. Her passion for education and seeing children succeed in school pushed her to create Y.E.S.S.S. (Your Educational Supplies, Systems and Services), a school uniform and educational supply store that also provides consulting for information technology systems and related services for schools.

In a period of only four months, Jackson-whose last job was Senior Vice President for Information Technology at an educational nonprofit-located a venue, hired contractors, ordered inventory, found employees and is hosting the grand opening of her new store at 108 Rhode Island Avenue, NW on Monday, August 10. Just in time for the back-to-school season.

Asked about the reason for her new venture, Jackson states, "I remember several PTA meetings where I would commiserate with other parents over our frustration in finding school uniforms and supplies right here in DC. The tax free weekend wasn't beneficial when I had to go out to Maryland to find uniforms for my children who attend DC public schools. I started the company because I enjoy working with children and saw the need in my community for a store that sells school uniforms and supplies. I believe that this company is my destined career for the rest of my work life."

Y.E.S.S.S. (Your Educational Supplies, Systems and Services) is the preeminent provider of educational resources that students need to complete their education with the highest level of success. The company caters to the academic community by offering a full-scale product line of school supplies, from uniforms to books and backpacks; along with consulting for information technology systems and related services. For more information, visit http://www.theyesss.com or call [phone].

[Margaret]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Margaret

http://grantfoundation.net

[????? ??????]

Thanks