Focusing on achievement — determining why some kids learn while others don’t, and exploring ways to deal with that — is hard. It’s messy. It can lead to uncomfortable conclusions — for example, that many of our traditional practices may actually be doing more harm than good.
It’s much easier to focus on money. It’s tidy. We can set up spreadsheets, and make up formulas, and think about where money should come from, and where it should go. We already know how to tax and spend.
But since the Claremont decision in 1998, we’ve increased school spending by about $10,000 per student, per year — yes, that’s adjusted for inflation — with no increases in student achievement.
It turns out that money is the lamppost of education. The light is good there, but until we move away from it, we aren’t going to be able to find what we’re looking for.
See also: The Streetlight Effect (Wikipedia)
