D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) cost more than any other education system in the country, at the expense of taxpayers everywhere.
District of Columbia education officials spent $29,866 per pupil per year in 2014, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. Given that the average D.C. homeowner pays $2,800 in property taxes, according to the D.C. Fiscal Policy Center, it takes roughly 10 homeowners to fund a single student’s tuition for a year.
Reporters for The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group observed numerous Maryland families dropping off multiple children at DCPS schools. In observed cases involving three and four children, the costs were nearly $90,000 and $120,000 a year.
Over the 15 years of schooling DCPS provides, that’s $448,000 per child, or $1.8 million for a family with four children. Here are some things that cost less than a DCPS education annually:
1. Average annual tuition at Harvard University
Tuition at Ivy League Harvard University cost $45,278 during the 2015-2016 school year, but the average student only pays an average of $17,820 after financial aid, according to U.S. News and World Report. So a DCPS education costs nearly twice as much as a Harvard education.
2. A full-time substitute teacher’s salary
The going hourly rate for a DCPS substitute teacher is $15, according to D.C. government records. A substitute teacher who works 40 hours a week, 36 weeks a year earns $21,600. Many substitute teachers only work part-time, so a DCPS education could theoretically cover two substitute teachers.
3. Body cameras for 19 D.C. police officers
The D.C. government recently began purchasing body cameras for its police officers, at a price tag of $1,500 each. Funding 19 cameras for a year costs $28,500, just slightly less than educating a student in DCPS for a year.
4. Special education aide
The DCPS considers 15 percent of its students special ed, and those students often require extra help. A special education aide who started working for the district in 2011 earns just a little more than $28,000, according to D.C. government salary records.
5. Help for a homeless person
Providing adequate services to a sizable homeless population is the biggest issue in D.C. politics currently. The city spends $14,000 per homeless person. For every Prince George’s County resident whose parents prefer to send him to D.C.’s schools rather than those in his neighborhood, a District resident could be in the streets.
Liberals take it as an article of faith that inner-city children are held back by lack of tax dollars spent on education, but that belief is unsupported by spending records.
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