Quote: We spend more then any other nation on education and yet we're woefully average in every measurement possible.

 

As true as that is, the problem is that much of that money is being spent on the wealthiest students.  


And our funding has been going down, while other countries have been increasing it.  (And I've heard several people refer to early childhood programs as 'handouts')


 

Quote: 

In kindergarten through 12th grade, meanwhile, the U.S. posts middling test scores, dragged down by the high numbers of children living in poverty whose schools tend to receive lower revenues from property taxes. Teacher salaries also have not risen in real terms, holding steady between 2000 and 2011, according to the report.

<p style="font-size:15px;font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);">"In the 1960s and 70s, the U.S. was way ahead of any other country... but other countries have done a lot better at getting their resources where they will make the most difference," said Andreas Schleicher, an education policy adviser to the OECD.

<p style="font-size:15px;font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);">"The U.S. is one of the few that invests in a regressive way. Children who need (public funding) the most get the least of it," he said, referring to how public schools, colleges and universities are funded.

<p style="font-size:15px;font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);">At the K-12 level, many U.S. schools rely primarily on property taxes, so wealthier communities have far more to spend, even though low-income schools are eligible for special federal grants.

<p style="font-size:15px;font-family:georgia, 'times new roman', serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);">http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/2...CN20130625

 

---