Jeb Bush Gets 'F' On School Spending

[UCmeNdc]

Jeb Bush has repeatedly — and falsely — claimed that the United States spends “more per student than any country in the world.” Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland all spend more than the U.S. on elementary and secondary education.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/jeb-bush-school-spending_n_3480340.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. Not to mention Jeb Bush has a vested interest in that false statement

He owns an educational software company that he would like to see adopted by all states...

[zbdent]

2. And don't bet against the fact that Jeb's push would include

more federal $$$ for all the textbooks that are printed by the company which "won" the exclusive rights to publishing them ... a HUGE contributor to George Dumbya ... It's really sad when you consider that Jeb is considered to be the smarter brother ...

[Igel]

3. Huffington's just revising slightly a factcheck blurb.

Which points to the source of their data.

Now, if you look at their data you see a few things.

First, some countries are including post-secondary vocational programs. That's Switzerland.

Second, the report's including private funds for things like food and transportation, book rental fees, and all the stuff that goes along with school. In some countries you buy your textbook or rent them; in this country, they're bought once for numerous years.

Third, only public schools are included in some numbers. Don't know how that would affect the total.

And finally, they use my favorite way of converting currency, purchasing parity power. On the other hand, PPP can be a dicey thing to use for converting large numbers because the assumptions that go into PPP calculations don't hold for large numbers. Moreover, few people use PPP for converting currencies. In fact, speech writers will use the conversion method that gets them the best speech, not the one that reflects actual value. Is there a conversion method that makes Jeb's claim valid?

I think so. I rummaged a few years ago and saw a rather different set of numbers. The bank currency exchange rate led to a different kind of result from PPP, and the exchange rate itself mattered. Dollar up, we spend more; dollar down, we spend less. Even if both we and they are spending the same amounts. And at the time I thought, "Gee, if they used PPP the numbers would be different." I like symmetry. Not enlightening, but at least it shows consistency.

The numbers still strike me as funny, as such numbers usually do. Do we in the US really spend $9k/year more per post-secondary student than Canada?

[HooptieWagon]

4. As Fl Gov...

Jeb slashed school spending, instituted a voucher system, and greatly increased charter schools. He really sucked. Quality of education dropped a lot. Scott has been even worse.

[Sunlei]

5. high price per student means fatter state/federal voucher for the 'for profit' pockets

same for the crazy high per year cost to keep one prisoner..means more state/federal money poured into 'for profit' prison pockets.

People like Bush are all pissed off because students should not even have books anymore. They make money off those books and the stupid USA 7 year book cycle.

Every student should use a tablet and books can be updated much cheaper, fast and frequently.