Are you one of the millions of Americans who think the education system needs more funding? Well, if you are then you should take a gander at the chart below that compares the government elementary and secondary schools of 1980 and 2014.
Using data from the National Center for Educational Statistics, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) developed a chart that looked at the manpower and total expenditures at government schools during the 34-year period.
Between 1980 and 2014, the number of government school students rose by 22.6 percent, but total staff headcount jumped by 50.1 percent. This includes an 88 percent increase in school district administrative staff and a 54 percent increase in instructional staff.
How much have total expenditures gone up? They have doubled from $300 billion to $600 billion. Today, the cost of educating a student in a government school has spiked by nearly 76 percent from $7,204 in 1980 to $12,642 in 2014.
Meanwhile, test scores and the quality of education are plummeting. Among OECD nations, the U.S. ranks 24th in reading, 36th in math and 28th in science.
Now do you think government schools need more money?
LIES, DAMNED LIES and STATISTICS. Adjusted for inflation $7,204 in 1980 = $20,697.16 in 2014. So, the cost of educating each student has gone down, not up. The only thing you prove is the school system needs more educators and less admin staff and more money.