Albert Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same failed methods over and over again and expecting a different result. That concept applies to the methods employed by our government and academic leaders in New York State in funding education.
One would think that throwing more money into failing school districts would lead to better student achievement. One would be wrong to think so. As noted in a recent analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy, New York State has tripled aid to our local schools over the past several decades, and student performance and test scores have actually declined. https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/learning-nothing-ny-heads-back-to-school/
There are fewer students attending our schools, yet costs continue to rise, as noted on the Empire report: “Enrollment has collapsed from its peak (3.5 million in 1970-71) to just under 2.4 million in 2023-24, when all but one county (Rockland) had fewer students than in 2018-19.”
There are smaller class sizes due to state mandates, yet test scores continue to decline.
State legislators love to brag in press releases how much bacon they bring back from Albany to their local schools. But what do we have to show for it, except higher taxes?
New York spends a whopping $30,000 per student, the highest in the nation, and double the national average, yet our test scores rank in the mid- to lower ranges among the fifty states. STAR (School Tax and Relief) aid to education soared at a rate three times above inflation over the last dozen years.
Meanwhile, state leaders continue to block the lifting of limits on how many charter schools are permitted. Study after study proves how charters lead to more prepared, better-performing students at about half the cost of the traditional public schools.
An analysis by the Center for Cost Effective Government highlights studies showing that public schools actually increased their performance once charters were allowed to compete in the vicinity of the public school. The waiting list for these charters, especially among the Black and Hispanic communities, is extremely long. These parents see the charters as a way to break out of systematic poverty and give their children a better chance to advance in society.
Unfortunately, charters have been suppressed in states where teachers unions wield a disproportionate amount of power.
Two decades ago, well-meaning advocates for students in low-wealth districts initiated lawsuits to invalidate the then-existing school aid formula. They demanded more state aid be given to the poorer districts. They won, leading to billions of more dollars getting funneled to these districts. We are now at the point where a low-wealth district such Hempstead in Nassau County receives over $125 million in state aid annually. Meanwhile, higher-wealth Garden City receives less than $10 million. Overall spending per pupil in Hempstead actually exceeds Garden City’s. All this extra money has had little to no effect on student performance.
Meanwhile, standards have continued to plummet. Regents exams are now optional. Students can take the Regents and ditch it if they think the score is too low. Passing grades were lowered. Absenteeism continues to climb. Social promotion continues with abandon. Disciplinary action in some schools has been severely restricted due to misplaced concerns that those acting out tended to be disproportionately minority students.
CEOs in the private sector producing these results would be fired. But with no competition, there is no fear of consequences for low production.
For years, advocates pushing for more spending and higher taxes for our schools have couched their argument under the guise of being “for the children.” But how can one be “for the children” when we trap them in violent, failing schools and lower our expectations, thereby ensuring lower performance? How can we say we are “for the children” when we raise taxes so high that these students will not be able to stay here after they graduate?
What we’ve been doing hasn’t been working. Are we going to continue to fulfill Einstein’s definition of insanity?