Cost of Education Has Increased
by $1,463 Per Student
Do you notice the difference?
Editorial by Jim Gerrish
05/16/14
The 2014 version of the
Taxpayer's Guide to Education Spending, released last Friday,
provides per-pupil spending data in 17 categories. For most, it
ranks how each district's spending compared with those of similar
size and type. Check out the interactive guide in the Newark Star
Ledger.
The guide also provides
calculations of the grand total cost per pupil to operate New
Jersey's 661 school districts and charter schools, including
state payments on behalf of districts for their employees'
pension, Social Security and retirement medical costs, as well as
tuition and debt service costs borne by the districts.
Let's check out East Orange and
compare how much we paid in 2012 and 2013.
Just looking at the two sections
highlighted above, we spent $1463 more per pupil in 2013 than we
did in 2012 and that was for 94 fewer students. What did we get
for our money?
