I think I received a pretty good education. Back in the 1960s, the education costs per child (in today’s dollars) was about $2,000 per student. Now, the cost is about $9,000 per student. What has changed?

Have we tried to add too much to public education? I had all the same subjects, participated in art, music and sports and had all the opportunities. Yet somehow we think that throwing more money at the education system is giving our children a better education. Students are going to get out of their education what they, and their parents, invest in it. It doesn’t matter if there are 10 kids or 30 kids in the class. Those parents who are invested in their children’s education was still see success.

In New Jersey, there is a big fight over public education funding. The Governor is cutting and the NJEA (Teacher’s Union) is not happy. Everyone is complaining how class size will increase and this will hurt our children. However, lets take a look at some facts.

Japan and Hong Kong have two of the highest math scores for 13 year olds. And, they also have the highest number of pupil to teacher ratios (about 35). The United States pupil to teacher ratio is about 18 and yet we are down the list of math scores (number 28 to be exact).

So is it really class room size that makes a difference?