The latest dispatch from the field by libertarian correspondent Mike Sylvester:
Last year I decided to research the annual average cost per student for K-12 education in Indiana. I used two sources for all of my statistics -- Stats Indiana and The National Teachers Association. Below is a summary of the average cost for 2004:
Expenses per student (not counting capital outlays or debt service) = $8,592 per year.
Capital expense per student (new buildings and large projects) = $1,026 per year.
Interest expense per student (interest on school bonds) = $836 per year.
So, last year, the cost to educate the average student in Indiana was $10,454. This cost is paid each year K-12. This money comes from a variety of sources. Some is from federal taxes; some is from state taxes; the majority comes from property taxes.
Real spending (adjusted for inflation) on education has tripled in the last 40 years. Forty years ago, we had the best education system in the world. Today, our education system is mediocre. We need to fix our education system, and spending more money is not the way to do it. If spending more money on education were the answer, our system today would be three times as good as it was 40 years ago.
