Spending More and Getting Less: Idaho K-12 Public School Productivity Declines by 17 Percent

Productivity is the ratio of output to input. In education output is achievement growth and input is cost. Assessment tests measure output, while budgets measure input. One way to measure productivity is to look at the Direct Math Assessment and the state’s K-12 budget.

According to recently released data from the Idaho State Department of Education the 2006-07 Direct Math Assessment showed a 12 percent drop from 2005-06. Students performing at or above proficiency dropped from 65 percent to 57 percent.

In the mean time, the state K-12 budget has been increased almost 6 percent.

We are getting 12 percent less and spending 6 percent more. What this indicates is an overall drop in productivity of 17 percent in one year. We are effectively getting 83 percent as much for the same dollar relative to the previous year.

Contrast the 17 drop is productivity to the 4 percent increase in output per hour in the U.S. manufacturing sector as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unfortunately this drop in productivity in public education is not a one-time event but part of a 30-year trend of spending more and getting less.

Fortunately we have a solution for this productivity problem. The only proven method to reverse this trend is free markets and parental choice. Competition always improves quality and reduces costs. Of course, the entrenched cartel of big unions, administrators, and school board associations vigorously oppose any form of accountability through choice. But parents and taxpayers must demand that the legislature offer real incentives to reverse this collapse in productivity. Incentives include tax credits and education scholarships.

We spent $8,279 per student in 2005-06. Offering a tax credit or scholarship of $5,000 per student would be a great start. Imagine the great schools that an open and free market could create for Idaho, not to mention the relief to taxpayers.

Stop Being Insane

Test scores from the recent Direct Math Assessment show a drop in the number of students who scored proficient or above compared to 2005-06. State Superintendent Tom Luna is asking for more tax money to address the problem. Wrong answer Tom. If more money would solve our math proficiency problem, then Idaho’s students should all be Einsteins. What the empirical data actually suggest is more money results in lower test scores. Since 1970, spending on public education has more than doubled while math achievement languished.

We don’t have a money problem, we have a monopoly problem. Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It would be insane to continue to subsidize a system that has failed to produce results for three decades.

Why not let parents and a free market in education solve this problem? Imagine a system where parents could choose the best school for their children instead of bureaucrats in Boise. There is something deeply immoral about forcing parents to send their children to failing schools. By denying parents real choice in public education, we deprive children of the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

Imagine a system where local small business owners, motivated teachers, entrepreneurs and innovative companies like Apple or FedEx or Hewlett Packard could create new schools and provide more choices. Markets can add tremendous value to the public education system by creating specialized and personalized programs to meet individual student needs and learning styles.

If Mr. Luna wants to reverse this trend of declining achievement scores and increasing costs to the taxpayers before his next election, he needs to immediately offer a simple, no-hassle, opportunity scholarship to all families to help improve academic achievement. This would truly revitalize public education and incentivize the system with a focus on results not rhetoric. Real accountability can only be achieved through choice. If we expect progress based on common sense experience, we have to first stop being insane.