Raise the Hammer

Ryan, productivity is the amount of wealth produced per hour worked. In 1965, there were 25 students per teacher in the U.S.. By 2002 there were only 16 students per teacher...

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/youthindicators/Indicators.asp?PubPageNumber=11

In 1965, it took $3.5k (2001-02 dollars) to teach a student for a year. In 2002, this cost had increased to $9k (2001-02 dollars), a 157% increase. In that same period, new cars cost only 41% more (24k vs 17k)...

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/cody/2010/03/24/cars-pcs-and-transistors-how-to-trade-off-a-repetive-history-of-industry-cycles/

Inflation adjusted home prices were almost flat from 1965 to 2000, prior to the government's decision to buy up bad loans (Fannie and Freddie) as a political calculation. Computer prices fall with time, as do electronics. Real wheat prices have also stayed flat since 1970, even though the world's population continues to increase.

According to the BLS, $100 in 1965 would buy $692 today...

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

... Yet prices at department stores (durable goods) have only increased 72.6% nominally. That means that real prices have decreased by a factor of 4. U.S. apparel prices have increased 159% nominally since 1965, this works out to a real price decrease of 2.67x. Even food and beverage prices have been less than the overall rate of inflation, increasing nominally by a factor of 6.3 since 1967.

Why can't public education keep a lid on their costs? Why can't teachers increase the number of students they teach, rather than having to to make classes smaller. Why are taxpayer funded teachers unable to do what the private sector does, which is to produce more per hour worked?

Is it because they have a monopoly on funding and our protected from competition because parents can't take their share of education funding and choose a private provider? Without competition and the ability to earn profits, why should teachers strive to be more productive like other business providers? In the strange world of government, being productive means putting yourself out of a job.