steph wrote on 02/28/10 at 2:41pm:California spends $43,287 annually on a prisoner. According to the California Department of Education the average per pupil expense for the 07-08 school year was $8,594.
The amount we spend on prisoners is amazing to me but that is a different crisis.
So is the amount we spend on education. If your $8500 figure is correct (and I suspect it is) that means that we spend $170,000 on each class of 20 students (most classes have more than 20 students). We may pay the teacher $60k. That leaves $110,000 for overhead expenses. I understand there are supplies & books to be bought and school up keep. Seems like we should be able to do that for a lot less than $110k. The problem is not that we don't have the funding. The problem is that we waste a lot of the funding.
In my opinion, private school costs less than public and nets better results.
CD