Standard & Poor's Studies School Spending in Pennsylvania

By John Gehring

How much Pennsylvania spends on schools is, in many ways, less important than how that money is spent, according to a new analysis of the state's education spending patterns and student achievement. Standard & Poor's, the New York City- based company best known for providing financial information and corporate credit ratings, released the 50-page "Statewide Insights" report last week.

From 1997 to 1999, 60 percent of Pennsylvania school districts with above-average scores on the state's accountability exams had below-average spending, the report says. On the other hand, nearly a third of all school districts with above-average spending had below-average scores.

While the report does not offer specific explanations for why some lower-spending districts have greater success than those that spend more, it does offer snapshots of statewide indicators like teaching experience, class size, and student-teacher ratio that together may offer a broader window into why some lower-spending...