‘We Have a Spending Problem,’ Lawmakers Told at House Hearing on Struggling Public Schools

Legislators and policy experts noted that spending and staffing have increased while test scores have dropped.

A student follows along remotely with their regular school teacher's online live lesson from a desk separated from others by plastic barriers at STAR Eco Station Tutoring & Enrichment Center on September 10, 2020 in Culver City, California. - California public school students will continue to learn at home, in private learning pods, or at specialized enrichment centers like Star Eco Station as the coronavirus pandemic continues, after a lawsuit brought by the Orange County Board of Education seeking to compel the state to reopen public schools was shot down by the California Supreme Court on September 10. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—Since 1950, the number of students in U.S. public schools has doubled, the number of teachers has more than tripled, and non-instructional staff has spiked by more than 700 percent.

And yet, the Heritage Foundation director for the Center for Education Policy told federal lawmakers that only 65 cents of every $1 in federal education spending reaches classrooms at a time when math and reading scores across the country continue to plummet.