It's not really clear that money is the issue.

I don't really like to act like I know the ins and outs of major policy like this, but it seems to me that it's mainly a cultural issue, like we've fallen behind because students here are less interested in learning. The drive for standardized testing doesn't seem very intuitive to me. It's hard to judge a teachers quality very well by the test scores. Students aren't necessarily distributed randomly, and teachers often proctor the exams themselves.

Preschool is, in my experience, a very good way to interest children in learning. A child, taught to think at an early age ,seems to develop a lifelong capacity for learning.

What if the money was going to the wrong places?
If a school received some tax money and used it for sports instead of scholarly related things, then what would happen?

So what , is that a fault of the extra money or the school?

Wouldn't it be important to first attempt to distinguish and identify the causes of the failure of our educational institutions and perhaps then direct additional funds where they might make a difference, and would it also not be useful to determine if the same problems and the same solution (for example, lack of funding) would be more or less effective at different levels of education?

Those who say money is not the issue should check up on the private schools term fees. Generally speaking the higher the fees, the better the results.

But it doesn't follow that it is because the fees are higher that the results are better, does it?

Can't seem to get my mind past the idea of a voluntary tax? Okay, I'll be honest, I laughted at the idea and now I'm still trying to figure out how that would work -- sort of like you've just purchased a new car and as you are paying for it you say..."Oh, and by the way, could you ad another 1% to that please and I want it to go towards education? ...then I get even more boggled when I think about how exactly would one go about insuring that that which you have collected actually goes to where you hope it to go....

Okay, if it is a tax -- properly placed on the books by acceptable means, voted into being...I do not have a choice - yes I would pay it because those I purchase things from would likely not allow me to not pay it and take my purchase out of the place of business.

Would I vote for an increase in my taxes believing it would go towards education? Certainly - education is our only hope for a better future. Of course it would not be an easy decision when I've voted in the the state lottery, past increases for education etc. etc. and I'm still not liking the results...

Okay...this idea of voluntarily paying taxes...what a little bit of heaven that would be until that first pothole damaged my car beyond the tax value if paid.

Lost1

Can't seem to get my mind past the idea of a voluntary tax? Okay, I'll be honest, I laughted at the idea and now I'm still trying to figure out how that would work -- sort of like you've just purchased a new car and as you are paying for it you say..."Oh, and by the way, could you ad another 1% to that please and I want it to go towards education? ...then I get even more boggled when I think about how exactly would one go about insuring that that which you have collected actually goes to where you hope it to go....

Okay, if it is a tax -- properly placed on the books by acceptable means, voted into being...I do not have a choice - yes I would pay it because those I purchase things from would likely not allow me to not pay it and take my purchase out of the place of business.

Would I vote for an increase in my taxes believing it would go towards education? Certainly - education is our only hope for a better future. Of course it would not be an easy decision when I've voted in the the state lottery, past increases for education etc. etc. and I'm still not liking the results...

Okay...this idea of voluntarily paying taxes...what a little bit of heaven that would be until that first pothole damaged my car beyond the tax value if paid.

Lost1

But to say extra money does not help is illogical. The fees follow the results not results follow the fees.Excellence increases the fees.

You will always have certain public schools that maintain good results and schools that don't but by giving them more money will always improve them to a degree. The extreme would be no money or loads of money , with that view nothing would change.