I participated in a panel discussion after a screening of the documentary 'Waiting for Superman.' While preparing, I was shocked to hear the head of the teacher's union repeatedly tell reporters that 'taxpayers are not committed to education' and quote numbers that are easily debunked.
Common myths: Education spending is reduced every year (False — SDUSD total revenues have remained fairly steady for 8 years). Per student spending is declining (False — it rose more than 33% over 7 years). More money means better results (False — over 40 years the cost of K-12 education has tripled while test scores haven't improved at all).
These misperceptions are part of a calculated campaign to disguise actual spending in an attempt to garner continually greater spending by taxpayers so those represented by the teachers union can get higher pay.
--MR
