[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 140 (Monday, October 28, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1961]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1961]]



         NO CORRELATION BETWEEN EDUCATION SPENDING AND RESULTS

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                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 28, 2002

  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to take 
a look at the facts about education spending and results. The teachers' 
unions and other alliances promoting bureaucracy are constantly 
pressuring Congress to expand federal education spending by billions of 
dollars. But, what do the numbers show us about the effectiveness of 
simply spending more money on education?
  A recent scholarly article by Cal Thomas pokes holes in the mantra 
that more education funding will help improve students' education. I 
have submitted the article for the Record. In the article, Mr. Thomas 
cites statistics from the Department of Education to back his claims. 
While the federal government has increased education spending 132 
percent between 1996 and the current fiscal year, test scores have 
remained stagnant. The Department of Education reports 32 percent of 
public school fourth-graders are proficient in reading, while only 26 
percent are proficient in mathematics. These figures are a dismal 
commentary on the state of education in the United States.
  In his article, Thomas cites a study by the bi-partisan American 
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), further revealing the lack or 
correlation between education spending and better academic results. 
``Particularly troubling is the finding that of the 10 states that 
increased per-pupil expenditures the most over the past two decades, 
none ranked in the top 10 in academic achievement. Additionally, of the 
top 10 that experienced the greatest decreases in pupil-to-teacher 
ratios over the past two decades, none ranked in the top 10 in academic 
achievement.''
  As the House works out appropriation levels for federal education 
funding over the next several weeks, I strongly urge it to take a look 
at the statistics. More money does not mean better student results.
  Instead, I commend the House to follow Cal Thomas' advice regarding 
how to improve academic performance. Thomas states: ``Allowing parents 
to have the power to choose where they believe their children can best 
be educated is the way to get higher test scores and better learning.''
  Mr. Speaker, I have introduced an education tax deduction bill that 
is currently reported to the House floor. It would empower parents with 
the ability to select the best education options for their children. 
Rather than spending more money on bureaucratic federal programs, I 
recommend my colleagues pass the Back to School Tax Relief Act, H.R. 
5193, and begin sending money back to the parents to spend as they deem 
appropriate. Only when we empower parents will we begin to see a 
reversal in the negative test score trends.

                  [From Pioneer Press, Oct. 18, 2002]

   More Spending Doesn't Always Translate Into Improved Educational 
                              Performance

                            (By Cal Thomas)

       Democrats lament that the presumptive war with Iraq has 
     kept them from focusing the public's attention on domestic 
     issues.
       OK, let's talk about one of their favorite domestic issues: 
     education. Most Democratic candidates (and sometimes a few 
     Republicans) promise that if elected, or re-elected, they 
     will fight to spend more money for education. They imply a 
     relationship between increased spending and better academic 
     performance. The public has mostly accepted this line of 
     thinking.
       The federal government has spent $321 billion on education 
     since 1965. The worthless Department of Education, which was 
     established in 1979 as President Jimmy Carter's payoff to the 
     teachers' unions, has an annual budget of $55 billion.
       Yet on the DOE's own Web page, there are some embarrassing 
     facts. Promoting its ``No Child Left Behind'' agenda 
     (www.nochildleftbehind.gov/next/stats/index.html), DOE notes 
     that education spending has increased 132 percent between 
     1996 and the current fiscal year. As the watchdog group 
     Citizens Against Government Waste notes, that compares to a 
     96 percent budget hike for the Department of Health and Human 
     Services and a 48 percent boost for defense over the same 
     period.
       What are our children and their parents getting for this 
     extra money? Not much. The DOE reports just 32 percent of 
     public school fourth-graders are proficient in math. Of those 
     who can't read well, 68 percent are minority children, even 
     though sharp increases in Title One spending ($10 billion in 
     the current budget) directed at improving basic skills among 
     black, Hispanic and American Indian children have failed to 
     achieve those goals.
       If the federal government's own figures are not persuasive 
     enough, a new study by the American Legislative Exchange 
     Council are. In the ninth edition of ``Report Card on 
     American Education: A State-by-State Analysis,'' the study of 
     two generations of students from 1976 to 2001 graded each 
     state, using more than 100 measures of educational resources 
     and achievement. ALEC is the nation's largest bipartisan, 
     individual membership organization of state legislators.
       In a news release, the ALEC says, ``A key finding of the 
     report shows there is no immediate evident correlation 
     between conventional measures of education inputs, such as 
     expenditures per pupil and teacher salaries, and educational 
     outputs, such as average scores on standardized tests.'' 
     Particularly troubling is the finding that of the 10 states 
     that increased per-pupil expenditures the most over the past 
     two decades, none ranked in the top 10 in academic 
     achievement. Additionally, of the top 10 that experienced the 
     greatest decreases in pupil-to-teacher ratios over the past 
     two decades, none ranked in the top 10 in academic 
     achievement.
       The teachers' unions and the rest of the government 
     education monopoly regularly tell us that more spending and 
     smaller classrooms are the answer to improved test scores. 
     But the ALEC study, along with the DOE statistics, proves 
     that is not the case. (For a state-by-state breakdown go to 
     www.ALEC.org.)
       Allowing parents to have the power to choose where they 
     believe their children can best be educated is the way to get 
     higher test scores and better learning. If competition 
     improves the products we buy, it can improve the quality of 
     education our children receive--or, in this case, are not 
     receiving. How much more money will it take before the public 
     awakens to the unnecessary and ineffective education 
     spending?
       That would be one good question for the campaign trail in 
     any debate about domestic issues.

     

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