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.