Posted by
PolicyGuy on Friday, July 14, 2006 9:52:18 AM
Rose P. writes in response to my previous post:
What
we really need is a massive in-depth internal audit of education
spending at both the Federal and Local levels. I agree that we have
been throwing money at the problem for years now rather than fixing
what really ails our education system.
Thanks for writing in, Rose!
Audits. Oh yes. Rather interesting things are going in in the record of financial accountability these days. Governments are now having to deal with the fact that their retirement systems are poorly funded--in large measure due to changes in laws dealing with accountability.
I'm all for increased transparency in public spending. If we're being taxed to do something in our name, then we ought to know how it's being spent. More and better audits, certainly.
That said, the record on education is fairly clear that more fundamental change is required. Despite a doubling of spending on public education over the last 30 years (I think that's right; see Education Myths, by Jay Greene for details), student performance has remained flat.
Many things contribute to that fact, and doubtless, fraud and the like exist. But a more serious problem, one that policy makers should and can address, is to introduce the use of the market through vouchers, tax credits, or other means.