Billion$ aren’t enough to improve schools

Money isn’t enough to improve schools.  That’s probably obvious, though it’s interesting to see that somebody did the work to provide evidence.  When I see what other countries do to improve their education quality, I realize how much of the education picture has to do with culture and respect, and money doesn’t help with that.

In the first-of-its-kind analysis of the billionaires’ efforts, NEWSWEEK and the Center for Public Integrity crunched the numbers on graduation rates and test scores in 10 major urban districts—from New York City to Oakland—which got windfalls from these four top philanthropists.

The results, though mixed, are dispiriting proof that money alone can’t repair the desperate state of urban education. For all the millions spent on reforms, nine of the 10 school districts studied substantially trailed their state’s proficiency and graduation rates—often by 10 points or more. That’s not to say that the urban districts didn’t make gains.

The good news is many did improve and at a rate faster than their states 60 percent of the time—proof that the billionaires made some solid bets. But those spikes up weren’t enough to erase the deep gulf between poor, inner-city schools, where the big givers focused, and their suburban and rural counterparts.

via Back to School for the Billionaires – Newsweek.