Psalm 127:3 has gone out on every one of my three children's birth announcements. It reads, "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." This is always front and center in my mind as my husband and I consider how we spend our money. I believe Alabama citizens are generally like us in this, and we leaders in government must remember the precious gift we have in our children and how crucially important it is that we prioritize our children in our budgeting.
Alabama's K-12 "Per Pupil Expenditure" (PPE) in 2014 averaged $8,841. Among Southeastern States we invested less than nine of our neighbors and more than Mississippi and North Carolina.
America's top four states with highest overall state grades in the 2015 Quality Counts State Education Rankings Edition were Massachusetts with a PPE of $16,315, New Jersey with a PPE of $20,117, Maryland with a PPE of $15,788, and Vermont with a PPE of $21,004. Of course, even adjusted for Alabama Cost of Living, these expenditures far exceed ours in Alabama. That said, it is also important to note that the consistent winner, Massachusetts, spends significantly less than New Jersey and Vermont.
In Alabama, PPE varies widely because of local expenditures on education, and in high poverty areas significant amounts of Federal Dollars are expended. [Click here to see a full listing]
I used to think there was no correlation between PPE and achievement, but I have evolved in that thinking to what I believe today. I believe level of investment matters in public education though it is not necessarily the most important factor in the quest for achievement.
States and areas that make significant local investment expect higher results invariably, and this generally correlates to achievement. Higher achievement drives a more prepared work force which in turn drives economic activity. A state's education investing is a long term investment. It takes discipline and vision to make a long term investment - especially in our current austere budget environment.
As we discuss possible budget solutions, I hope that we will choose to continue and even increase investing in our future - our children. Just as important, we should expect to get better and better outcomes for the investment we make. We also need to be realistic in our expectations if our Alabama PPE education investment remains substantially lower than states with extremely high achievement.
By Mary Scott Hunter
Representative-Alabama Board of Education
District 8 (Limestone, Madison, Jackson, DeKalb, Etowah)
PO Box 18572, Huntsville, AL 35804 ∙ 1-888-531-1312
Email: hunter@maryscotthunter.com
Website: www.maryscotthunter.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/
