Mayor of city that spends $22K per student on education: We should spend more on education

Our Nation spends billions to lock up undereducated/ trained adults & fails 2 invest a fraction of that 2 empower kids to succeed @a3vantage

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 19, 2012

Booker is the Twitter-savvy mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

Newark public schools spend an average of more than $22,000 on each student pre year — twice the national average.

The results leave a lot to be desired.

Booker is a savvy politician, so he is sure to add the caveat that more money is “necessary but not sufficient.”

Bill, u must not know much bout what I've stood & fought for in the ed reform movement. Money is necessary but not sufficient. @billmurphy

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 19, 2012

He also acknowledges that some education money is wasted:

There is much money wasted in ed. But that does not relieve us of our obligation to invest and demand results. @billmurphy

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) November 19, 2012

Fine. But is more spending really essential, as Booker claims? Many countries get better educational results than the U.S. with lower levels of spending.

We happen to think that poor performance in many U.S. school districts has less to do with lack of resources than with entrenched public teacher unions that reward sloth and incompetence.

Maybe students in Newark’s schools would be better off if they were given an annual private school voucher of, say, $15,000 each.