Waste in Schools

Every tax is a pay cut. Every tax cut is a pay raise.
Citizens for Limited Taxation

This graph basically shows the real school costs against the costs we would have paid taking into account the student head count increases and using Proposition 2 1/2 guidelines for cost increases. The SAT scores are also shown to indicate that increased costs result in no increase in scores. In essence, this graph shows that even if we double costs, scores will not improve. The conclusion is that we are feeding the teacher's unions but not improving the education of our children. We are pouring money into a black hole.
This is like buying increasingly expensive shares of a company whose revenues are flat or declining.
The table and explanation below shows how I derived this graph.

Year 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Indexed SAT scores 37.15 37.61 37.98 37.80 38.52 38.41 38.77 38.16 37.22 37.55 38.26

1992 Indexed Costs 37.15 38.45 39.76 40.76 43.65 45.22 47.26 50.32 53.32 54.41 55.76

Real School Costs 37.15 37.31 40.37 42.28 45.98 48.70 51.98 57.88 58.83 64.33 67.85

Total SAT Scores 1033 1046 1056 1051 1071 1068 1078 1061 1035 1044 1064

Student Head Count 7,418 7,491 7,558 7,558 7,897 7,980 8,137 8,453 8,739 8,700 8,698

Year	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Indexed SAT scores	37.15	37.61	37.98	37.80	38.52	38.41	38.77	38.16	37.22	37.55	38.26
1992 Indexed Costs	37.15	38.45	39.76	40.76	43.65	45.22	47.26	50.32	53.32	54.41	55.76
Real School Costs	37.15	37.31	40.37	42.28	45.98	48.70	51.98	57.88	58.83	64.33	67.85
Total SAT Scores	1033	1046	1056	1051	1071	1068	1078	1061	1035	1044	1064
Student Head Count	7,418	7,491	7,558	7,558	7,897	7,980	8,137	8,453	8,739	8,700	8,698

The 1992 Indexed Costs are calculated starting with the 1992 school expenditure figure of $37.15 (millions) when the schools had 7,418 students.
My first index (index1) is the student count on any year divided by 7,418. For the year 2002, it would be 8,698 / 7,418 = 1.1725532.
My second index (index2) is the Proposition 2 1/2 index. I compute the number of years since 1992. For 2002, it would be 10. I take the value 1.025 and multiply it by itself by 10. For the year 2002, it would be 1.025 ** 10=1.28.
I then take the 1992 school expenditure level of $37.15 (millions) and multiply it by index1, then multiply that result by index2 to calculate the 1992 Indexed Costs. For 2002, the 1992 Indexed Cost is 37.15 * 1.1725532 * 1.28 = 55.76.
The Indexed SAT Scores were derived to fit the graph by taking the 1992 actual school costs of $37.15 (millions) and dividing it by the Total SAT Scores for 1992. This came out to 37.15 / 1033 = .035963213. Each annual total SAT score was multiplied by this factor to get the Indexed SAT scores.

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