More does not always mean better, especially when it comes to education funding.

This finding was the subject of a recent op-ed co-authored by Mackinac Center Education Policy Director Ben DeGrow and Edward Hoang, assistant professor of economics at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, who co-authored a study examining the relationship between education funding and student performance.

Out of the 28 academic indicators we analyzed, only one (seventh-grade math scores) showed a statistically significant correlation with spending more money. … And for the other 27 indicators, there was no statistically significant correlation between how much schools spent and how well their students performed.

The Mackinac Center’s study comes in advance of a $400,000 state-funded study commissioned to determine if Michigan is spending enough to adequately educate its students. However, DeGrow and Hoang note the group doing the study has recommended spending increases in each of the 13 such studies it has completed.

They even concluded that schools in Washington, D.C., needed more resources, despite its schools already spending a whopping $29,000 per student.

They conclude:

Rather than double down on standard approaches with more dollars, Michigan needs a major education overhaul.

Read the full op-ed in the Lansing State Journal.

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