Most states education expenditures=3-5% of budget. Federally level around 3% is spent

[BatmanVSuperman]

So, how is it every election someone uses education as a platform about dramatic increases yet... every time we get a new President or other elected officials we never see results?

Oh ya, that thing called national debt.

So, is there ever going to be a time when we can see less political puffery?

The only change I see tends to be in vending machines.

 

[SV Fan]

We could always cut the defense budget in half and then distribute that money to other areas that actually need it.

I guess one could dream

 

[Thundercrack85]

The fundamental issue is a lack of a centralized system.

In a lot of states (possibly all, I honestly am only familiar with the ones I have lived in), a lot of this stuff is decided on a local level.

And then there's the states that have high sales tax, and low property taxes (read: the bad ones). So, not only do they have a low budget, they can't even plan it properly.

And the lack of centralization also leads to Texas creationists picking the science books for half the country.

I think it would be great if for just one day, the Department of Education and the Department of Defense swapped budgets.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The problem that a lot of states have is that a lot of their budgets are being forced to pay for things like pensions/benefits for employees and lots of entitlements. These things have been very costly and as a result it is very difficult to dedicate a lot of the budget to education, especially when funding is in dire need to be cut.

Unlike the federal government, the states cannot just print money and they have certain fiscal limitations that the federal government does not.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Education should be the federal government's responsibility.

States can play a role, but they lack the funding. Or perhaps develop a hybrid system, where states manage primary, and the federal secondary.