Examining the Census Bureau report side-by-side with a recent federal Department of Education report on 2011 high school graduation rates reveals no correlation between spending and educational success.
New York spent more than twice as much per pupil as California, but its high school graduation rate, 77 percent, was virtually identical to our 76 percent. Washington, D.C., schools were slightly below New York in spending at $18,475, but had the nation’s lowest graduation rate of 59 percent.
Conversely, the highest graduation rates approaching 90 percent, were found in states with moderate rates of spending. Utah, dead last in spending, had the same 76 percent rate as California while Texas, which fell just below California in spending, had an 86 percent rate.
