“Since 1970, public-school employment has increased ten times faster than public-school enrollment. In 2008, the United States spent more per student on K–12 education than any other developed nation except Switzerland — and at least the Swiss have something to show for it. In 2008, York City School District spent $12,691 per pupil — or about a third more than the Swiss. Slovakia’s total per-student cost is less than York City’s current per-student deficit — and the Slovak kids beat the United States at mathematics, which may explain why their budget arithmetic still has a passing acquaintanceship with reality. As in so many other areas of American life, the problem is not the lack of money but the fact that so much of the money is utterly wasted.
“…. Five years ago (the most recent breakdown I have), the district had 440 teachers but 295 administrative and support staff. If you’re thinking that sounds a little out of whack, that just shows what a dummy you are: For every three teachers we ‘put back in the classroom,’ we need to hire two bureaucrats to put back in the bureaucracy to fill in the paperwork to access the federal funds to put teachers back in the classroom. One day it will be three educrats for every two teachers, and the system will operate even more effectively.”
from Biden’s Fourth Grade Economics by Mark Steyn
Parents of Blaine County Students 
“Word Problems We’d Like To See”
Country U spends more per student than all other OECD nations except Country S.
http://mercatus.org/publication/k-12-spending-student-oecd
But Country U’s test scores are consistently average compared to other OECD nations.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703471904576003842497574526.html
How many years will it take before parents shut off Monday Night Football, unimaginative sitcoms and other TV drivel and band together to make their tax dollars do something other than line the pockets of administrators?
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