Inflation-adjusted spending on K-12 education in 23 states, including Virginia, is less this school year than it was before the Great Recession in 2007-2008, reports the Washington Post, drawing from a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a left-leaning think tank.
Michael Leachman, co-author of the report, viewed the spending cuts with alarm. In too many states, he said, “public investment in K-12 schools, which are crucial for communities to thrive and the U.S. economy to offer broad opportunity, has declined dramatically in recent years,”
“As common sense suggests — and academic research confirms — money matters for educational outcomes,” states the report.
Does money matter? Let’s see. Virginia has cut more than most states, an inflation-adjusted 10.2%, according to the CBPP study. By Leachman’s logic, we should see a commensurate decline in educational achievement.
The graphs at left track reading and math proficiency in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests for Virginia and U.S. 4th graders. As can be seen, the gap between Virginia and U.S. performance actually has widened since 2008. (Change in the Virginia/U.S. differential for 8th graders has been negligible.)
I have been critical of Virginia’s educational establishment, but looking at these numbers, I have to say this: It appears that Virginia’s teachers and administrators have learned to do more with less, at least in the lower grades. Certainly, they have done better than their peers in other states.
There are limits to how much schools can cut spending without harming educational achievement. But there is no evidence that spending cuts in Virginia have done any harm so far. Assessing our commitment to education purely in terms of dollars spent is foolish. Spending less for marginally better results is a good thing, not a cause for dismay.
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