Americans: Schools Are Wasting Money

by Collin Hitt A new poll from Rasmussen Reports finds that most American voters think public schools are wasteful. Interestingly, Americans also understate the amount of tax money that schools receive. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 11% of voters think the taxpayers are getting a good return on that investment. Seventy-two percent...

by Collin Hitt

A new poll from Rasmussen Reports finds that most American voters think public schools are wasteful. Interestingly, Americans also understate the amount of tax money that schools receive.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 11% of voters think the taxpayers are getting a good return on that investment. Seventy-two percent (72%) disagree and say taxpayers are not getting their money’s worth. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.

Nationally, public schools spend about $11,000 (though the Rasmussen release states a lower more dated number). In Illinois, the State Board of Education reported that Illinois spent nearly $12,000 per pupil during the most recent school year, a state record.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) say the average per student expenditure is less than $9,000 per year while only 12% think it’s higher than that. Nine percent (9%) estimate the right amount but a plurality of 40% is not sure.

Most voters (54%) continue to believe that the government does not spend enough on public education, unchanged from a year ago. But that figure drops to 38% when voters are asked specifically if $9,000 per year is too much, too little or about the right amount to spend per student on education. Twenty-two percent (22%) of voters say, generally speaking, the government spends too much on public education, and that edges up slightly to 24% when voters are given the $9,000 per year figure.

This national poll does not adjust for the fact that school funding varies significantly by state. So while some people might underestimate national school spending, their outlook might have been influenced by the fact that their surrounding area spends less.

However, polling directed by Paul DiPerna at the Foundation for Educational Choice has for years tested local knowledge about local school funding. The Illinois Policy Institute partnered with the Foundation three years ago on one such poll. We found that only 11 percent of voters in Illinois thought our schools spent $9,000 or more; that year, school spending in the state was well over $10,000.  State after state, the Foundation’s large-sample polls have found that people believe schools are working with less money than is actually the case – perhaps the result of the relentless publicity campaign by teachers unions and district administrators who cry poverty, even during record spending years.