Your Opinion: School spending myths

Dear Editor:

While surfing the Net I came across an interesting paper that provided some interesting insights. If unequal school funding is not the reason for the disparity in test scores what is the cause? The problem can't be solved unless we are willing to identify it. (We won't make significant progress in solving the problem of terrorism in the world until we are willing to acknowledge that radical Islamists make up the vast majority of terrorists.)

"The abstract: Achievement disparities among racial and ethnic groups persist in the American education system. Asian and white students consistently perform better on standardized tests than Hispanic and black students. While many commentators blame the achievement gap on alleged disparities in school funding this Heritage Foundation paper demonstrates that public education spending per pupil is broadly similar across racial and ethnic groups. To the extent that funding differences exist at all, they tend to slightly favor lower-performing groups, especially blacks. Since unequal funding for minority students is largely a myth, it cannot be a valid explanation for racial and ethnic differences in school achievement, and there is little evidence that increasing public spending will close the gaps."

Link to the site: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2011/04/The-Myth-of-Racial-Disparities-in-Public-School-Funding#_ftn3

Yes the Heritage Foundation is conservative, but if you take issue with the paper please do so on the basis of its content. We lived in Lebanon, Indiana, just northwest of Indianapolis, prior to our retiring. Some 2008-09 school year stats from my files. Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) spent 30 percent more per pupil that the Lebanon Community School Corporation (LCSC). IPS/LCSC student teacher ratio 14/16. IPS/LCSC graduation rate 47.2 percent//96.2 percent. Truancy rates in IPS were dramatically higher than those in the suburbs.

Lebanon was definitely not one of the upscale Indy suburbs. If you compared them (Carmel or Zionsville) with IPS the disparity of student performance for tax dollar spent was even greater.