New Mexico Schools: Hardly a Financial Crisis

We are now being treated to the latest rounds of outrage from New Mexico’s education establishment about the “dramatic cuts” being made to the schools. Yes, it is true, some cuts are being made, but the idea that spending on K-12 education has cratered or should cause some kind of crisis is ridiculous. We’ve already discussed per-pupil spending on K-12 here and shown how dramatically spending has risen over the past few decades.

But what about more recent spending cuts. We’ve SLASHED the budget, right? Not really. As this chart which was based on reports like this one from the LFC, which shows “Total Public School Support,” there have been some slight cuts in recent years after several years of massive spending growth. In fact, since FY 2004, spending growth has averaged 6%, factoring in the cuts made for FY 2012 during the last session.

New Mexico schools should not be in a crisis and, while I empathize with them on the demands placed upon them, particularly by Washington, DC, it is time to quit complaining and solve the problems facing the schools.