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“49th in the nation”

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Illinois

The art of using statistics.

It may be lonely at the top, but when it comes to education funding, Arizona has plenty of company at the bottom. Or so they say. At last count, more than half a dozen states claimed to be 49th in education funding:

“The political reality is that (Florida) lawmakers are cheap and entirely too satisfied with education spending that ranks 49th of the 50 states.” St. Petersburg Times editorial, Oct. 15, 2004.

Â·”Illinois ranks 49th in the nation in the proportion of state school funding it provides, caucus officials said.” Chicago Tribune, Aug. 13, 2004.

“Tennessee . . . ranks 49th out of 50 states in per-pupil spending.” Amy Ritchart, the Leaf Chronicle, Oct. 17, 2004.

Add to that list, Idaho, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah and, of course, Arizona.

Who’s right depends partly on what you include in education funding. For example, Census Bureau rankings include certain capital outlays. The National Education Association’s “Rankings and Estimates” and Education Week’s “Quality Counts” exclude such funding.

Arizona’s ranking also changes considerably depending on how you define education funding. For instance, the Census Bureau ranks Arizona anywhere from 18th to 51st on 20 funding measures. Such variety makes it possible to pick and choose a state’s ranking and then put it under an ominous “education funding” headline.

The complexity of state public-school finance systems makes it hard to know what’s being spent and easy for people to believe their state is 49th. A 2004 Educational Testing Service poll found that nearly one in two Americans thinks per-student funding averages less than $5,000. However, U.S. Department of Education figures put average state spending closer to $9,000.

Read the whole thing. Pretty good stuff.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 11, 05 @ 3:27 pm

Comments

What happens when you add the $1B plus the state kicks in on teacher pensions? Do any other states do that? Don’t think so…

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Apr 11, 05 @ 9:34 pm
Education mediocrity

Pension crisis pending

I am not concerned about Dick Mell owning a landfill. Let’s address real issues.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Apr 15, 05 @ 5:47 pm