News Release

December 9, 2002

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Legacy of D.C. Schools' Failure Pre-dates "White Flight" of 1950s
Despite vastly increased spending per student, school system can't shake legacy of failure

WASHINGTON-It is a common belief that the poor performance of the public school system in the nation's capital is a recent phenomenon. But according to a new Cato Institute policy analysis, the system has a long history of failing to provide a quality education to its students. In "The Need for Educational Freedom in the Nation's Capital," Casey Lartigue, a policy analyst with Cato's Center for Educational Freedom, traces the roots of failure in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), noting that "the failure of the government-run school system is not new." According to the study, the downward trend began even before the "white flight" of the 1950s, and has continued despite inflation-adjusted increases in spending, reduced class size, and attempts to reform the system from within. "In short," Lartigue notes, "the good old days of public education in the nation's capital never were."

A common remedy proposed by defenders of the public school system - increased spending - has completely failed to improve the quality of education in Washington, D.C., according to the study. DCPS spends $10,550 per student, ranking it among the highest in the nation, while standardized test scores rank near the bottom. Lartigue observes that despite such extravagant spending, DCPS still lacks qualified teachers, safe facilities and even basic supplies such as pencils and textbooks.

Lartigue goes in depth with analysis of the DCPS's problems, including the explosion of bureaucracy as the district hired more staffers while losing thousands of students. He also examines the district's worst performing schools - some of which have only 1% of their students performing at the "proficient" or "advanced" level in mathematics.

Increasing the range of education options is the key to improvement, according to Lartigue. "The city must find a way to create competition within the system, with the goals of giving parents power over the education of their children, to foster an environment that will create a climate for education entrepreneurs to flourish, and taking education out of the hands of feuding politicians."