Worcester Schools Are Among Least Effective in U.S. for Spending

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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor

Of the 90 most populated cities in the United States, Worcester ranks 84th in efficient spending of taxpayers money on public education. According to the report from Wallethub.com, Worcester ranks nearly last in average standardized test scores of the 90 cities, and only spends the 56th most on educating its students per capita.

The report, titled '2015's Cities with Most and Least Efficient Spending on Education,' bases its findings on a calculation that divided each city’s aggregated standardized test scores in reading and math for grades 4 and 8 by its total amount of education spending per capita. With those findings, Wallethub determines the return on investment in public education for each city.

By this method, Worcester spends $1,786 in education spending per capita and its average standardized test score is 38.58%. 

Worcester School Committee member Brian O'Connell said, "The report gives Worcester a useful comparison as to its “return on educational investment” with those of 89 other middle-sized to large urban centers. This is, in effect, a useful “cost / benefit” analysis – how well do students perform academically, and how much is invested in their schools to achieve that level of performance. I was disappointed, but not really surprised, that Worcester ranked 84th of the 90 communities – above Springfield, but below Providence, and significantly below Boston."

Boston and Springfield

In comparison, the city of Boston ranked 66th out of the 90 cities. Boston spends $1,672 in education spending per capita and has an average standardized test score of 47.58%.

On the other hand, and falling even behind in Worcester, the city of Springfield finished third to last in the rankings and fell in at 88th. Springfield spends $3,050 in education per capita, nearly double of what Worcester and Boston spend. However, Springfield's average standardized test score is just a bit higher than Worcester at 39%.

O'Connell said, "I was surprised to find that Worcester ranked 88th on average standardized test scores among the communities –Springfield ranked one better, at 87th. Generally, we compare ourselves with a range of Massachusetts cities in this area, and I would have expected our scores to rank above those of many of the cities in the Wallet Hub study. A more detailed review of the underlying data – and of the manner of calculating the adjustments to “norm” the data among the communities - would be helpful in determining whether Worcester deserves the low rank on test scores to which it is assigned."

Worcester's Public Education Spending 

"Our goal should be superlative average test scores, achieved through a prudent, cost-conscious expenditure of the resources provided us. Here, our allocation of our resources has significant room for improvement," said O'Connell.

In Fiscal Year 2013, public education spending in Worcester was nearly $13,500 per pupil, just below the state average of $14,000. In FY 2015, the public education budget represented nearly 60 percent of the city's entire budget.

O'Connell said, "Our School Committee can, and should, allocate its resources, to the degree possible, into classrooms for next year – to true instructional personnel, and to the resources and supplies that directly advance classroom instruction. This will give our students their best prospect of success on standardized testing. If we do so, I am confident that Wallet Hub’s alarming ranking of us as one of the very “least efficient” larger communities in “spending on education” can be rapidly and effectively reversed – to the benefit of our community, our schools, and our students."

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