March 19, 2009 1:59PM # Stop Wasting $Billions; Expand School Choice By [Adam B. Schaeffer](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-b-schaeffer) --- SHARE The Philadelphia school system will [spend over $3 billion](http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090318_Phila_Schools_budget_tops__3_billion_for_first_time.html) for the first time next year. That works out to *$18,500 per student* in a failing school system and most likely leaves out significant costs like teacher health and retirement funds. Maybe it has something to do with the *84 administrative departments* burning through funds that should be used to educate children. In 2007 I [highlighted](http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODFhZjMwZDEyNWM2NzdhZDg0Njc3N2NjNDcxMjBjZTU=) the growing spending insanity in Philadelphia schools and noted that *tens millions of dollars could be saved every year* *through even a small school choice program.* Pennsylvania’s small, successful, and popular donation tax credits system for private scholarships is [already saving money ](http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODFhZjMwZDEyNWM2NzdhZDg0Njc3N2NjNDcxMjBjZTU=)and children from failing schools. In this economy, Pennsylvania [can’t afford](../2008/12/16/school-choice-saves-money-and-children/) not to have more school choice. ##### Related Tags [Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).