Q: Can Public Schools Really Do More With Less? + Report: “RETURN ON EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT: A district-by-district evaluation of US educational productivity”
BY VIVIAN PO, NEW AMERICA MEDIA, EDUCATION BLOG | HTTP://BIT.LY/GSI8DJ
Posted: Apr 9, 2011
NAM EDITOR’S NOTE: As the U.S. economy continues to falter and states struggle to balance their budgets, cuts in education funding have become ubiquitous. Yet students face new pressures to remain competitive in the global market. Once again, the big question for reformers is: “Can schools do more with less?” To answer that question, NAM education reporter Vivian Po spoke with Ulrich Boser, author of a recent report by the Center for American Progress [SourceWatch]: “Return on Educational Investment: A district-by-district evaluation of US educational productivity.” [follows] The report, the first attempt to evaluate the productivity of almost every major school district in the country, found that some districts have spent their dollars more wisely than others—and most schools can improve their efficiency, if they try.
What does the report tell us?
We found that many school districts could boost student achievement without increasing spending if they used their money more productively. For example, an Arizona school district could see as much as a 36 percent boost in achievement if it increased its efficiency from the lowest level to the highest, with all else being equal. It is