January 27, 2004

LESS MONEY, BETTER CHOICES:

Seattle Schools Learn Money Doesn't Buy Grades (Fox News, January 27, 2004)

Seattle school officials (search) are learning a valuable but surprising lesson — throwing money at schools doesn't always help kids achieve. And spending more money on some students rather than others does little more than cause trouble.

Under Seattle's weighted student formula, schools with kids who are poor, not fluent in English or have special needs get more money to help them compete. Only it doesn't seem to work.

"If money is the only thing we need to make better schools — to increase academic achievement for students — then we would have seen that by now," said Lynn Harsh of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based group that focuses on state budgets and tax policy, welfare reform, health-care reform, education and governance issues. "Instead we're seeing the opposite results."


In a related story: the sun rose in the East today.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 27, 2004 07:35 AM
Comments

Balderdash.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at January 27, 2004 01:51 PM

Harry:

Exactly. The sun does not move, the earth rotates such that it appears that the sun rises in the east.

Posted by: Uncle Bill at January 27, 2004 02:30 PM

Well, I could expand on it, but I've had my say more than once before.

I don't know what they are doing with the money in that district, and maybe they are wasting it. But the general proposition that extra resources for difficult situations is unjustifiable is just silly.

I've seen plenty of examples where it worked pretty well.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at January 27, 2004 06:16 PM

Public housing projects, welfare, farm subsidies...

Posted by: oj at January 27, 2004 06:27 PM

In the wild west, there's evidence to support the proposition that the more you spend on public education, the less you get.

Posted by: "Edward" at January 27, 2004 11:29 PM

Stop me if I've told this story before.

Some years ago, a large engineering school wanted to encourage graduate, black engineeers to go for advanced degrees. They were all already working in the auto industry.

A system was set up to allow them to fit study for a master's into their work schedule, and the best teachers were assigned.

Of the first 50 recruited, 49 dropped out. A man I know analyzed the situation and discovered that the engineers did not know how to study. (Yes, I know, this says something about undergraduate school.)

So he revised the program to teach the next 50 how to study. Of that group, 48 got their master's degrees, and their work was judged equivalent to that done by the in-residence students at the most elite schools.

I could give other examples. Jeff says anecdotes are not evidence, but sometimes they are.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at January 28, 2004 05:41 PM

Of what?

Posted by: oj at January 28, 2004 07:01 PM
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