Tallahassee Democrat
“Friday Letters to the Editor: More money doesn’t always mean better results”
January 30, 2015Thanks for “Why Florida schools tanked in rankings” (Matt Reed, Jan. 18) because it shows the typical laser focus by many people that money is the onlysolution to educational issues. In fact if the writer had looked at more than just Education Week, he would have found that while Florida is indeed below the national average on school spending, we have in fact excelled in our educational rankings.Coincidentally, the day before this column, the James Madison Institute hosted CFO Jeff Atwater, who spoke on exactly this issue: education spending vs. education success. And in his statistical PowerPoint, he proved that Florida — while spending less — has attained remarkable education goals for our students, especially in comparison to all other states, many of whom spend more money.Additionally Florida now ranks second in the world for fourth graders. So if the writer would realize that more money doesn’t always equal better results, then we can all relish the fact that Florida’s educational system is showing solid improvement. Gov. Jeb Bush was right — set high educational standards and children will work to reach them, and we’ll reap the benefits in knowing that our children are better prepared to compete in the world marketplace.–BARNEY T. BISHOP, IIIArticle: http://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/readers/2015/01/30/friday-letters/22519945/
2015
