By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Another study, same conclusion: Despite leading the world in education spending, U.S. students continue to trail their counterparts in other developed countries.

The trend was confirmed this week by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its annual report that analyzes education in the world’s most developed countries.

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The study shows the U.S. spent about $11,000 per elementary student and $12,000 per high school student in 2010. But “when researchers factored in the cost for programs after high school education such as college or vocational training, the United States spent $15,171 on each young person in the system – more than any other nation covered in the report,” the Associated Press reports.

What do we get for spending top dollar? Continued mediocrity.

“U.S. fourth-graders are 11th in the world in math in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study … U.S. eighth graders ranked ninth in math, according to those 2011 results,” the AP reports.

“The Program for International Student Assessment measurement found the United States ranked 31st in math literacy among 15-year-olds and below the international average. The same 2009 tests found the United States ranked 23rd in science among the same students, but posting an average score.”

Despite lackluster student learning, America’s teachers are among the best paid in the world. And the vast majority of teacher salaries are distributed based on the union system that determines compensation by seniority and college credits earned, rather than instructional skill.

Obviously, the union system doesn’t work.

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That’s why lawmakers in numerous states have passed or are considering laws to base at least a portion of teachers’ salaries on how well they perform their jobs.

This latest report serves as confirmation for education reformers working to shift America to a more performance-based education system.

From our perspective, it’s virtually the only way the United States can regain the international stature in education it once enjoyed.