And academic performance is suffering. Average American students rank low in international comparisons of knowledge and ability. While test scores declined, spending has increased. Total expenditure for education amounted to about 7.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 1994-1995. Data adjusted for inflation shows that since 1960, spending per pupil has tripled, the student-teacher ratio has fallen more than a third, and teacher s salaries have risen by half.
Money seems to be falling through cracks long before it reaches students.
On average, America spends more money per child than other industrialized countries. Educators are frustrated by over-crowding and poor test results. Politicians are frustrated by the partisan politics and endless philosophical debates that have kept educational policy in an apparent stand-still. Many conservatives, including Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, have proposed school vouchers as one answer to America s public school crisis. President Clinton and most Democrats argue that school vouchers would suck much-needed money away from already troubled public schools.