Colorado Thanks God For Backward South (Again)

13 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

Colorado ranks among the stingiest states in the nation in how much it spends to educate its children, according to a government report released Monday.

The report by the U.S. Census Bureau found the state ranked 40th in spending per pupil in 2007.

Colorado fared even worse in how much of its personal income goes toward public education. It spent the second-lowest amount per $1,000 of income, ahead of only Florida. [Pols emphasis]

“I think this study kind of confirms, to be perfectly honest, what we’ve known: that the underlying tax structure that supports Colorado public schools has, in some cases, not been working well,” said Dwight Jones, the state’s commissioner of education.

The Census Bureau found that Colorado spent $8,167 per pupil, 11th from the bottom nationally, during the 2006-07 school year. That is below the national average of $9,666 and almost half the amount spent by New York, the top state.

We like to imagine that it’s Mississippi, Alabama, or another stereotype Deep South state that saves Colorado every year from ranking dead-last in education spending as a percentage of income. Okay, Florida then. Close enough.

And yes, we know we’re in the middle of the Great Recession so further painful cuts to education loom, which puts even many Democrats in the position of reciting boilerplate about using “what we have” as efficiently as possible instead of leveling the truth: recession or no recession, efficiencies or no efficiencies, we’re in a nationally embarrassing predicament.

13 thoughts on “Colorado Thanks God For Backward South (Again)”

sxp151 says:

July 28, 2009 at 7:34 pm

so therefore and hence why should we pay any more for it?

First we need the best education system in the country, THEN we’ll start paying for it in some way.

[/sarcasm]

Log in to Reply
Born with red blood says:

July 28, 2009 at 8:26 pm

We have great public schools. Big spending doesn’t mean better results.

Log in to Reply
1. BlueCat says:
  
  July 28, 2009 at 8:27 pm
  
  Log in to Reply
2. Danny the Red (hair) says:
  
  July 28, 2009 at 8:42 pm
  
  Why don’t we cut the defense budget and expect to have the same quality, capability and sustainability?
  
  Log in to Reply
3. Emma Anne says:
  
  July 28, 2009 at 9:49 pm
  
  Big spending may not guarantee better results, but it is certainly correlated with better results, at least for at the low levels we are talking about. Consider the results with $0 spending. Gets better as you spend more, right?
  
  Log in to Reply
  1. Born with red blood says:
    
    July 29, 2009 at 12:08 am
    
    We do rank 12th in academic achievement as a state.
    
    Log in to Reply
Skyler says:

July 28, 2009 at 8:42 pm

So here’s the state of things here in Colorado:

And here’s what you can do about it:

http://www.greateducation.org

Log in to Reply
Hepster says:

July 28, 2009 at 11:16 pm

and perpetuates misinformation, stereotypes, and prejudice. Mississippi is 15th. Alabama is 25th. Other backwards southern states: Georgia is 6th. Arkansas is 10th. SC is 16th. The only southern state in the bottom ten (besides FL, which many southerners don’t claim as southern) is TN at 45th.

Log in to Reply
1. Colorado Pols says:
  
  July 28, 2009 at 11:40 pm
  
  Good for Mississippi, we’ll tell our kids to put Ole Miss on their college list since they’re properly funding their education system. Doesn’t exactly give our state an excuse, though.
  
  As far as this Colorado blog is concerned, we kicked your rebel asses at the Battle of Glorieta Pass and haven’t really paid much attention since then.
  
  Log in to Reply
DavidThi808 says:

July 29, 2009 at 12:57 am

Between funding and performance, it makes more sense to focus on the items that do matter

Log in to Reply
1. parsingreality says:
  
  July 29, 2009 at 4:40 pm
  
  … it borders on scary listening to those folks. Scary for the obvious lack of education, and scary because I think I hear banjos in the background….
  
  One time I got gas and went inside to the bathroom; looking around and listening one could have thought they were reshooting “Deliverance” nearby. All these years later…
  
  Is bubbahood a close correlation to dollars spent in public education? I honestly don’t know. But I have my suspicions.
  
  Log in to Reply
  1. DavidThi808 says:
    
    July 31, 2009 at 6:14 am
    
    Don’t they spend more per pupil than Colorado?
    
    Log in to Reply
parsingreality says:

July 29, 2009 at 1:32 am

{sarcasm}

At least here when you can’t get a decent job you can go fishing.

Log in to Reply