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> Education is insanely overfunded Can you cite a source for that claim? Genuinely curious, because I don't know if I've ever heard someone suggest it. (Conver

> Education is insanely overfunded Can you cite a source for that claim? Genuinely curious, because I don't know if I've ever heard someone suggest it. (Conversely, the idea that education is substantially underfunded is generally assumed - at least in my bubble.)

xyzzyz 5y ago
US has 4th higher education spending per student in the world, just behind Austria and Norway (US and these two all spend around $15k/student), and behind Luxembourg ($20k). But, national per student spending only really small part of the story. It is more instructive to observe that there are lots and lots of school districts which spend more than $15k, but nevertheless get atrocious educational outcomes, for example New York City, Baltimore, or Chicago. If New York City public schools can spend nearly $30k per student, but nevertheless have worse outcomes than national average, why would anyone believe that more money is what American schools need?
Supermancho 5y ago
https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statisti... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education-spending-finland-south-korea https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education... I'm not sure what qualifies as "insanely" but there's a gap.
- cycomanic 5y ago
  So what do the US spend education money on? I would've imagined that teacher salaries would be the highest contributer to education cost, but for teacher salary the US is well behind everyone else.
  - Supermancho 5y ago
    In the US, I assume administration and materials (vendors for everything from desks to books). The US teacher's unions have been regressive for decades, wherein costs have gone up without the union being able to get better compensation. Ofc the employment benefits that teachers get is no sneeze. Retirement, healthcare+for your children until their 20s is something special (at least it was when my mom was a teacher).

xyzzyz 5y ago

US has 4th higher education spending per student in the world, just behind Austria and Norway (US and these two all spend around $15k/student), and behind Luxembourg ($20k). But, national per student spending only really small part of the story. It is more instructive to observe that there are lots and lots of school districts which spend more than $15k, but nevertheless get atrocious educational outcomes, for example New York City, Baltimore, or Chicago. If New York City public schools can spend nearly $30k per student, but nevertheless have worse outcomes than national average, why would anyone believe that more money is what American schools need?

Supermancho 5y ago

https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statisti... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education-spending-finland-south-korea https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/07/us-education... I'm not sure what qualifies as "insanely" but there's a gap.

cycomanic 5y ago
So what do the US spend education money on? I would've imagined that teacher salaries would be the highest contributer to education cost, but for teacher salary the US is well behind everyone else.
- Supermancho 5y ago
  In the US, I assume administration and materials (vendors for everything from desks to books). The US teacher's unions have been regressive for decades, wherein costs have gone up without the union being able to get better compensation. Ofc the employment benefits that teachers get is no sneeze. Retirement, healthcare+for your children until their 20s is something special (at least it was when my mom was a teacher).