American Public School Teachers Getting Shortchanged

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That’s right, you read that here.

Vicki Alger from the Independent Institute has zeroed in on a trend few on the political right or left have ascertained. “The United States spends more on K-12 education than most countries,” she writes. “But it directs one of the smallest percentages of funding to classroom teachers, according to a new international report.”

“Education at a Glance, the annual report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, finds that cumulative per-student spending by the United States on students ages six through 15 totals nearly $122,000, compared to the OECD average of $93,500. In fact, out of 34 countries with available data, only Norway, Austria, and Luxembourg spend more than the United States.”

“More interesting is where the money is going, and where it’s not going.Just 54 percent of current American education spending, which excludes capital spending, is devoted to teacher compensation. Compare that to the OECD average of 63 percent. What’s more, 27 percent of that spending is for nonteaching staff compensation, “ more than any other country and almost double the OECD average of 15 percent,” according to the authors.”