Georgia Education Spending More than Doubles, Yet Graduation Rate Slips

January 22, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susan L. Meyers 404-518-2271

ATLANTA – Georgia's graduation rates are lower than they were a generation ago, despite a massive infusion of tax dollars including creation of the Quality Basic Education Act, according to a new analysis of federal and state data released Thursday.

The study, titled "Return on Investment? Public Education in Georgia: Increased Spending, Lower Graduation Rates," also suggests that future increases in education spending will likely not improve graduation rates.

During the past 25 years, public education spending in Georgia spiked 119 percent when measured on a per-student basis and adjusted for inflation, according to the study by the Center for an Educated Georgia. Resources devoted to K-12 education, including spending for more teachers and instructional technology, have dramatically increased, putting Georgia on par with or exceeding the national average.

Nationwide, per pupil education spending increased 68.7 percent, according to the study. In comparison, 21 states including seven in the Southeast have consistently higher graduation rates yet spend less per pupil than Georgia.

"This new research is important, because it confirms what many suspect. There is no correlation between increasing education spending and improved student achievement," said Ben Scafidi, director of the Center for an Educated Georgia and director of the Education Policy Center at Georgia College and State University. "More money is not the key to improving education. It's time to focus our energy on finding new ideas that will result in Georgia students earning diplomas."

Despite the extraordinary increase in per-student spending, Georgia’s graduation rate remains 49th in the nation, below where it was a generation ago when QBE was initially created by the General Assembly. Although there has been an increase since 2001, Georgia’s graduation rate dropped between 6 and 9 points between 1990 and 2005 – depending on the measurement.

"Despite the good intentions and billions of dollars that went into QBE and federal education programs, Georgia is not getting a return on its investment," said Scafidi, the author of the study. "We have to ask ourselves what can be done differently to turn around Georgia’s schools."

"Dr. Scafidi's work demonstrates that the dramatic increases in Georgia’s K-12 spending over the last 20 years begs the question, "Can we reasonably expect more money in the future, absent real system reforms, to improve educational attainment?" said Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Education & Workforce Development Committee of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. "Investing in public education should remain a priority in Georgia. But clearly we must re-examine how dollars are being spent and make real reforms if we are going to deliver excellence."

Not surprisingly, this extra spending has increased the burden on Georgia taxpayers. In 2005, Georgians paid 7 percent more of their personal income toward K-12 education than the national average. In 1990, Georgia taxpayers devoted 10 percent less of their personal income to K-12 education spending relative to the nationwide average.

Given these findings, the study concludes that additional increases in spending likely will not improve public education for Georgia students. Instead, alternative delivery models and new reforms should be considered to increase the productivity of the dollars that are currently being spent, Scafidi said.

More information about the study and the Center for an Educated Georgia is available at www.educatedgeorgia.org.

Click here to download the study.