During Monday's presidential debate, Gov. Mitt Romney declared his undying affection for America's teachers:
Moderator Bob Schieffer chimed in: "I think we all love teachers."
Indeed.
But a new study from the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice finds that it's not just teachers who are getting the love money, though they are getting plenty of it as well.
America's public schools saw a 96 percent increase in students but increased administrators and other non-teaching staff a staggering 702 percent since 1950, according to a new study of school personnel by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice….Teaching staff, in comparison, increased 252 percent.
Even states that had actual decreases in enrollment often had major bumps in education hiring:
Maine had a decrease of 10.8 percent in student population yet increased its non-teaching staff by 76.1 percent.
South Dakota lost 3.9 percent of its student population yet increased non-teaching staff by 55.4 percent.
The District of Columbia lost 14.8 percent of its students yet increased non-teaching staff by 42 percent.
Here's the money math:
If non-teaching personnel had grown at the same rate as student population, American public schools would have an additional $24.3 billion annually. Scafidi's report concluded that $24.3 billion is equivalent to an annual $7,500 raise per teacher nationwide or a $1,700 school voucher for each child in poverty.
And here's your handy abysmal performance vs. astronomical spending reminder:
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