The Kansas Policy Institute, the Koch-funded local “stink tank” affiliate of the State Policy Network which pushes the ALEC agenda including privatization of public schools recently sent a piece to legislators claiming that there is no correlation between funding and achievement in schools. There are multiple things wrong with their analysis (including their focus on the NAEP “proficient” category when people in the field understand that NAEP “proficiency” doesn’t equate to what is commonly understood as “proficient” but instead to a high level of achievement), but most troubling is the fact that they are feeding legislators the line that funding doesn’t matter in Kansas and telling them “[i]t is time for Kansas policymakers to call a new play.”
From KASB: “But let’s take a step back. Do we really need statistics to tell us that if you increase funding to schools, schools are going to have a better chance of enabling students to succeed?
“You tell me.”
See more of the explanation here: http://kasbresearch.blogspot.com/2015/11/yes-virginia-there-is-correlation.html