Proving once again that incompetence reigns throughout Pennsylvania’s public education apparatus, the Department of Education still does not have the reports on 2013-2014 test results ready for release. These tests were taken at least six months ago. They were due to be released in September, then October first and now they are being delayed again and no one is sure for how long.
The excuse is the Department needs to wait for schools to look over the results before official release. But the real problems are never mentioned; political influences and thorough going incompetence in the Department.
Still, the even bigger problem is not in the delay of the scores, it is the terrible results for many schools that will be revealed. While educationists, liberal politicians and uninformed citizens clamor for more education spending, they never want to consider that the current level of spending ought to be adequate to educate youngsters. It is the same old song, more money, more money followed by excuses as to why the test scores are so pathetic.
A recent survey by the Milton Friedman Foundation found that 49 percent of the public thinks school spending is $8,000 or less per pupil, with 20 percent believing it is less than $4,000. The real answer in Pennsylvania in 2012-2013 was $14,600, with many far higher than that. Little wonder the education lobby is so successful in condemning anyone who questions the cries for more dollars for education. They have successfully propagandized the public long enough to create the false narrative about education spending.
