August 26, 2009 5:12PM

Is $19,000 Per Student Enough to Run a School?

By Adam B. Schaeffer

Time for another “THE SCHOOLS HAVE NO MONEY!” report from the WaPo:

The largest-ever infusion of federal cash is flowing into public school classrooms this year in the form of new programs and thousands of restored jobs. The stimulus package -- $100 billion over two years -- comes with similarly sized expectations. . .

Even with the extra cash, the survey found, many schools are focused on survival. . .

In Fairfax County, stimulus funding saved about 274 positions, but class size ratios still increased by half a student

Poor schools!

And Fairfax. Desperate, struggling Fairfax only has about $3.3 billion to play with this year. How are they supposed to keep the system running with just $19,000 per student?

Considering the fact that the estimated national median private school tuition is around $4,800 $6,200, maybe they could just let parents and taxpayers keep, say, a third of that money to spend on education themselves.

Voila, no budget problem!