UW Researcher Takes a Hard Look at Education Spending

Earlier this month a Washington, D.C. think tank, Education Sector, released an eye-opening study by a University of Washington researcher, Dr. Marguerite Roza. Her report, Frozen Assets, examines the money locked up in common teacher contract provisions that could be put to better use in other ways. (Here's the press release.) Her research was covered in the Washington Post and  Education Week.

Roza finds that about $77 billion, or $1 of every $5 spent nationally on the public schools, could be "repurposed" to produce better student achievement. For context, according to the NEA research  (numbered page 95 of the report), WA spends around $8,000 per pupil. The per student calculation varies depending on how you look at it. If the national percentage applies to our state, something Roza does not contend, about $1,500 of that could be better spent.

Provocative stuff, I thought, so I wrote about it in a column in today's Spokesman-Review. It'd be good to hear more from Dr. Roza as the Legislature grapples with how best to spend the education dollar.

UPDATE: Thanks to blogger and analyst Joanne Jacobs for the commentary and links.