Category Archives: Academic Achievement

Is there a link between Academic Achievement and Funding?
Maureen Downey with the AJC writes,

Many critics of public education contend more money doesn’t matter but new research challenges that contention. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study compared state spending starting in 1990 and found increased funding improved student outcomes.
Harnessing little-used data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and comparing states that increased funding for their poorest schools with those that did not, researchers found,”Using nationally representative data on student achievement, we find that this spending was productive: Reforms increased the absolute and relative achievement of students in low-income district.”

Schools in DeKalb have been failing in perpetuity. Spending on education in DeKalb has gone up 20% since 2014. The general fund budget in FY2014 was $788 million. The general fund budget for FY2017 is $948 million (and we are about to raise the FY2017 another $13 million).
Increased spending is not the answer in DeKalb. Students from low income families are no excuse. Many school districts across the state have a higher percentage of students on Free or Reduced Lunches (FRL), spend less money per student and perform better academically.
The following table lists all the school districts in Georgia in order of percentage of students on Free or Reduced Lunches. 72% of DeKalb Schools students are on FRL. Note how many schools (in blue) have more students on FRL, perform better academically and spend less per student to do it.