How the US actually stands on education spending

[ronburgundy]

Oh, and a factor I didn't mention before, the cost of busing kids because the US has such a terrible public transit system. The US spends about $24,000,000,000 every year to bus kids to and from school. In most other countries kids just use the public transit system.
So, that is a cost counted as "education" that artificially inflates what the US spends on "education".

But that would mean snowflakes crossing major streets. Can't expect the parents to actually teach the kids, can we??

While some helicopter parents would freak out without door-to-door bus delivery, I suspect that our $24 billion dollar school busing budget is more the result conservative snowflakes whining about taxes needed for descent public transit systems. In major cities that actually have decent public transit, there is far lass busing by schools. Like Chicago, where only about 5% of students are bused. Although, that still costs $83 million which is more than Chicago spends on classes and programs for advanced and "gifted" students.

1) Special ed is half or more of the education budget.

Where are you getting that "half" figure? My links show that it adds about 17% to the education budget, above what it would be if all those kids just got education that cost the same as standard.
That is still a lot, but its 1/3 your figure.

[Loren Pechtel]

But that would mean snowflakes crossing major streets. Can't expect the parents to actually teach the kids, can we??

While some helicopter parents would freak out without door-to-door bus delivery, I suspect that our $24 billion dollar school busing budget is more the result conservative snowflakes whining about taxes needed for descent public transit systems. In major cities that actually have decent public transit, there is far lass busing by schools. Like Chicago, where only about 5% of students are bused. Although, that still costs $83 million which is more than Chicago spends on classes and programs for advanced and "gifted" students.

It would help but using public transit still means vehicles run. You won't save anything like the whole $24 billion.

1) Special ed is half or more of the education budget.

Where are you getting that "half" figure? My links show that it adds about 17% to the education budget, above what it would be if all those kids just got education that cost the same as standard.
That is still a lot, but its 1/3 your figure.

I got it from a local teacher. I rather suspect she was looking only at teaching costs, not capital and maintenance costs.

[ronburgundy]

While some helicopter parents would freak out without door-to-door bus delivery, I suspect that our $24 billion dollar school busing budget is more the result conservative snowflakes whining about taxes needed for descent public transit systems. In major cities that actually have decent public transit, there is far lass busing by schools. Like Chicago, where only about 5% of students are bused. Although, that still costs $83 million which is more than Chicago spends on classes and programs for advanced and "gifted" students.

It would help but using public transit still means vehicles run. You won't save anything like the whole $24 billion.

Sure, but its not just about saving $. The main reason I brought the cost of busing is that the US includes it as part of what it spends on "education" but other counties don't count the public transit their kids use as part of the education budget. That makes the US seems better than it really is in terms of education spending.