A new, non-partisan source of data may cause many in Wake County to re-examine their perceptions about public schools financing and performance. The venerable reporter on stocks and bonds, Standard & Poors®, has started reporting on U.S. public education. You can access their information at www.schoolmatters.com

S&P is still another source that shows how well Wake's public schools (WCPSS) perform on relatively skimpy funding. The latest data shows that the average amount spent on instruction per student in NC is $4115 per year - but only $4070 in Wake. This compares to $4727 for the U.S., or a difference of almost $700 per student or $10,000 per classroom. The data is for 2002 and with the recent huge increases in student population, the gap to the rest of the U.S. has certainly widened.

"But this is the South" you say. Consider that VA spent $500 more per student, GA $600 more and even poor SC $100 more than NC. And compared to other urbanized counties in NC, Wake was near the bottom of the heap. Durham spent $373 more per student, Orange $713 more, Charlotte Mecklenburg $243 more and Chapel Hill - Carrboro $1668 more (42%). And if you display the school districts in NC by reading and math scores, Wake is near the top exceeded by only Chapel Hill among the urbanized schools.

Some of my acquaintances "know" that WCPSS "squanders enormous" amounts of money on an unduly large administrative staff, but the percentage spent on General Administration (1.3% of total operations) is well below the NC average, (1.8%), likely due to economies of scale.

And almost everyone "knows" the "huge" amounts spent on busing. While the 4.9% of operational expense is indeed large by NC standards it is only marginally above than the amount spent on average across the nation ($323 vs. $308 per student per year). Isn't it amazing how fifteen dollars per year more per student can raise the level of emotion?

That point reveals the limitations of any numerical approach to evaluating schools. The public makes its judgments regarding education based on emotions and other factors difficult to measure and impossible to satisfy across a wide range of opinions and backgrounds. And schools do far more than teach basic skills. But we all understand academic excellence and dollars and cents. And that's a good place to start the discussion about the rest of education.

The availability of S&P allows each of you to evaluate the performance of our political leaders. Many politicians talk about how much they support education. But do they appropriate the money they control based on what they say? For example, the Wake County Commissioners say they are doing all they can. Wake is in the top 2% in wealth and tax base in the state. Does S&P's ranking the county at the 73% mark in the state for instructional expense match the rhetoric?

Lastly, S&P gives you the opportunity to look at some of the very best school systems in the country. WCPSS does a good job considering the level of funding. But take a look at Ridge High School in Bernards Township, NJ. Or East Chapel Hill High School. What should the educational standards be in an era where the prosperity of our country, no less Wake County, is threatened by high-paid jobs moving to other countries? It would be a mistake to think that lower wages in India and China are the only reason for outsourcing. Our economy is global. Isn't it time to think about the global competitiveness of our schools? WCPSS needs to raise the bar. That will take shedding our complacency and demanding a still higher level of educational excellence. It will require that our political leaders rethink their priorities about funds for education.

S&P gives you the opportunity to come to your own conclusions.