Student achievement is flat over the last 4 decades, while per-student spending has doubled

and I suspect we have more students today than back in the Seventies. Economies of scale, anyone? Bueller?

We need a paradigm shift from the status quo. Vouchers anyone; anyone? Nah, that would give students and their families too much choice.

High school lack of progress reported here:

U.S. high-school students haven't achieved any significant gains in reading or math for nearly four decades, according to a new federal report that underscores the challenges the Obama administration faces as it pressures schools to raise standards to produce a more competitive work force.

...

On a zero-to-500-point scale, 17-year-olds scored an average of 286 points in reading in 2008, up one point from 1971. The NAEP report said students with such scores have "intermediate skills" and are able to make generalizations about what they read.

In math, the same group's average scores rose two points to 306 since 1973. The report said students scoring in that range are able to perform moderately complex procedures such as computing with decimals and simple fractions.

Spending tracked here: