State Legislative Group Targets New Ways to Fund Education

State education rankings released for 15th straight year, again show spending does not correlate with student results.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A majority of students in American public schools failed to meet proficiency levels in fourth- and eighth-grade mathematics and reading, and SAT and ACT scores stagnated, despite decades-long increases in public-school spending, according to a new report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

“States across the country have proved that through education reforms rooted in freedom and accountability, more can be done with less”

Using nationally recognized test results, the ALEC Report Card on American Education ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia accordingly, one being the best and 51 the worst. Minnesota placed first in the unique ranking, Washington, D.C. last.

“The Report Card on American Education clearly shows there is no correlation between educational dollars spent and student achievement in our traditional public school system,” said Andrew T. LeFevre, author of the report and executive director of the Pennsylvania-based REACH Foundation. “At some point, state policymakers must ask themselves if more of the same is going to produce a different result.”

The report also provides extensive data from 1986-87 to 2007-08 on state and federal funding, school resources, graduation rates, GED completion rates, and school-choice initiatives, including tax credit, scholarship, and charter school programs—alternatives to traditional public education ALEC supports. With the federal administration expected to ramp up education spending through a host of new public programs, the evidence is undeniably clear: Further government funding does not necessarily produce corresponding results.

“States across the country have proved that through education reforms rooted in freedom and accountability, more can be done with less,” said Jeff W. Reed, director of ALEC’s Education Task Force. “But it is up to state lawmakers to give taxpayers a break and parents and students the opportunity to choose what works best for them.”

About ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators, with more than 2,000 state legislative members from all 50 states, and 78 former members serving in the U.S. Congress. Its mission is to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, individual liberty, and limited government.