Barack Obama plans to increase the education budget by six percent.
Why? It won’t make a difference. Contrary to popular opinion, increased education spending does not lead to improved student outcomes. This holds true for the U.S. as well as for other nations. In the U.S., public spending per student increased by 73 percent—after allowing for inflation—between 1980 and 2005. However, student outcomes remained roughly the same.
Spending more will not improve education. Improving teacher quality will. The top-performing school systems in the world focus on improving teacher quality. The U.S. should follow suit.