A Return on Investment?
Feb6In 1960, Nevada spent $430 per pupil—roughly $2,837 per pupil in 2005 dollars. By 2005 the state was spending $7,198 per pupil, an inflation-adjusted increase of 153 percent. When one includes capital outlays and school debt per pupil, spending has more than tripled since 1960.
The following graph demonstrates that inflation adjusted per-pupil spending has increased drastically in Nevada sine 1960 (this graph excludes capital outlays, debt payments, and teacher pensions as part of per pupil expenditures).
Inflation adjusted per pupil spending has risen sharply since 1960.
But what about results, how much has student achievement increased since we stepped up our investment in education?
According to the National Assessment for Education Progress, reading scores have been virtually flat over the last decade.
Reading scores have been flat for the last decade.
Author : Patrick Gibbons
Author's Website | Articles From This AuthorPatrick R. Gibbons works for the Nevada Policy Research Institute as an education policy analyst. He has earned an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma and B.A. degrees in Political Science and History from Penn State. Prior to joining NPRI, Patrick worked as a history and special education teacher in Virginia, as a research intern at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in Oklahoma City and as the marketing and communications associate for the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix.
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