The $95.4 Million Question
For taxpayers not old enough to remember, there was once a TV game show called “The $64,000 Question.” The roots being in the 1940’s CBS radio quiz show “Take it or Leave it,” and with inflation we get to $64 Million.
This morning, the Arlington Sun-Gazette reported on the results of the FY 2008 WABE results (Washington Area Boards of Education), comparing financial and related data for Washington area school districts. The Sun-Gazette highlights such data as:
- Cost-per-student: Alexandria, $19,341 (up 6.1%), Arlington, $18,563 (up 3.3%), and Fairfax County, $13,407 (up 4.3%).
- Enrollment: Arlington, 18,517.
Now take the difference in cost-per-student between Arlington and Fairfax County ($18,563 - $13,407 = $5,156) and multiply it times the number of Arlington students. The result is $95.4 Million. The question that Arlington taxpayers should be asking members of the Arlington School Board and the Superintendent:
just how does the Fairfax County Public Schools educate an equivalent number of their kids for $95.4 million less than does the Arlington Public Schools?
After all, the average SAT score for students in the Fairfax County Public Schools is 1,639 while it is 1,623 in the Arlington Public Schools. The newspaper does provide a hint, however, although it's far from a complete answer, by noting that Arlington has the highest teacher salary in the region as well as the highest maximum teacher salary and the highest total benefits. And, yes, I'm aware there are some Arlington citizens who think taxpayers should spend more on public education.
(For a look at the entire WABE report, it is posted on the APS website.)