{"id":1231,"date":"2026-05-19T06:24:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2026-05-14T20:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:41:22","slug":"tennessees-education-paradox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/tennessees-education-paradox\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee&#8217;s Education Paradox"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2><em>Spending vs. Educational Outcomes<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1232\" width=\"729\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/tennessees-education-paradox\/\">Tennessee&#8217;s Education Paradox<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/05\/12\/what-if-she-walks-in\/\">What If She Walks In?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/mother-knew-best\/\">Mother Knew Best<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/04\/28\/moral-relativism-the-tyranny-we-call-kindness\/\">Moral Relativism: The Tyranny We Call Kindness<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/04\/21\/why-therapy-is-so-hard-for-men\/\">Why Therapy is So Hard For Men<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>My wife is a teacher at a public school as one of her many careers. I get a firsthand account of the state of public school education in Tennessee. So, when this article came out, I dove in. And I heard the same, tired song.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2>Tennessee\u2019s Rank in Public School Spending<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The newest rage in Tennessee is that the state registered lowest in the country in public school spending. This predictably outraged various groups of uninformed, rage-baiters into the playbook manual of feelings of over facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Feel angry<\/li><li>Call it out<\/li><li>See evidence-based refutation<\/li><li>Name-call and scream louder<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than look to see why, or if this is even something to be concerned about, how bad it is, they just came out swinging. I dug into it a little. Questions I had were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><em><strong>Where did Tennessee rank in educational outcomes?<\/strong><\/em><\/li><li><em><strong>Does spending correlate to educational outcomes?<\/strong><\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2>Educational Outcomes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What I found-&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tnscore.org\/what-we-do\/our-impact\">Tennessee is slightly above national average<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tennessee ranks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>25<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in combined proficiency<\/li><li>24<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in 4<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;grade reading<\/li><li>21<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in 8<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;grade reading<\/li><li>13<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in 4<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;grade math<\/li><li>20<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in 8<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;grade math<\/li><li>One of the fastest improving states in the country.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So let me get this straight. Tennessee ranks lowest in public school spending but above the national average in educational outcomes? This alone indicates a lack of causation between spending and educational outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>By the Numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>But don\u2019t take my word for it. Let\u2019s actually look at numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><em><strong>Spending<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>1980<\/em>: $2300 per student (<strong>$9,000<\/strong>&nbsp;in today\u2019s dollars)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>2023<\/em>:&nbsp;<strong>$16,500<\/strong>&nbsp;per student (National average is now $18,000. Some states exceed $20,000)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right away, you would expect to see educational output almost double over this same time period. Unfortunately, this isn\u2019t supported by the data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><em><strong>Educational Outcomes<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>1980:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NAEP Testing age 13- reading 258, math 266<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SAT testing age 13- verbal 421, math 466<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>2023:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NAEP Testing age 13- reading 256, math 263<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SAT testing age 13- verbal 520, math 508<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a graph of what that looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph-1024x562.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph-1024x562.png 1024w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph-300x165.png 300w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph-768x421.png 768w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph-1536x843.png 1536w, https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/school-spending-graph.png 1693w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption><em>Spending Per Student vs. Educational Outcomes from 1980-2023<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This data is controlling for population changes (SES, racial makeup, neighborhood disparity).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The evidence is clear. Spending has no correlation to educational outcomes. By any reasonable logic, we should expect to see an increase in educational outcomes. There is none. So if money doesn\u2019t matter to educational outcomes, what does?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>The Monopoly<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Competition. The government has no incentive to produce better outcomes because there is no one to compete with. The other two alternatives to public schools are&nbsp;<em>private schools<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>home schools.<\/em>&nbsp;Currently, the average cost per student in Tennessee for a private school education is&nbsp;<em>$13,000 per year<\/em>. The average cost per student in Tennessee for a homeschool education is&nbsp;<em>$2,000 per year<\/em>. This means that the public school system is the&nbsp;<strong>ONLY FREE education<\/strong>&nbsp;offered in Tennessee. This is the literal definition of a monopoly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Websters Dictionary:&nbsp;<em>Monopoly- An exclusive privilege to carry on a business or service granted by the government. The market condition that exists when there is only one seller.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone knows that competition drives costs down and quality up. Until government schools have competition, there is no incentive to be more proficient, increase educational outcomes, and reduce teacher inefficiency. You can just keep rolling along with arbitrary teacher tenure, protection for ill-behaved children, and lack of control over violence in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t pretend to have all the answers, but what I know is spending more money on schools is not the answer, and creating competition is at least one answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay Classy GP!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grainger<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spending vs. Educational Outcomes My wife is a teacher at a public school as one of her many careers. I get a firsthand account of the state of public school education in Tennessee. So, when this article came out, I dove in. And I heard the same, tired song. Tennessee\u2019s Rank in Public School Spending &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/tennessees-education-paradox\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Tennessee&#8217;s Education Paradox&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[72,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1239,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tidbitsofaudacity.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}