• Originally published October 11, 2011 at 4:57 p.m., updated October 11, 2011 at 4:57 p.m.

Editor, the Advocate:

Bad Aibling, Germany, mid '70s, this young G.I. was reading the "Stars and Stripes." The headline article was we were not spending enough on education.

In the article was a bar graph: the United States in the middle of 15 countries. Like many graphs, the first half was fairly level with last four or five making a dramatic upswing. Very convincing at first glance, but upon closer examination, the country spending the most for education was Sweden.

Our nation's biggest competition in the world market at that time, Germany and Japan, spent less. As often happens, facts are overwhelmed by emotionalism, thus more government bureaucracy was established.

Johnny still cannot compete on a global scale; some research has indicated many high school graduates cannot perform freshman level college courses.

There could be many reasons for poor education. We hear and read about these reasons regularly - and every time to justify a new program or expenditure. Recently, a large cheating scandal was publicized that exposed a national problem. When money is tied to an arbitrary standard instead of actual product, it will lead to corruption.

We pour billions of tax dollars into education every year; let's look at some results. From 2002-09 the paperwork burden has increased by 65 percent, according to Duncan Hunter, Chairman of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education house subcommittee. Per pupil expenditure is $13,000 a year. Public school compensation for employees averages about 42 percent more than for private schools. Teachers make more than the median household income ($45,018, according to Wikipedia) for eight to nine months work. All this while nationally public school enrollment was falling and teacher hiring increasing. Federal funding is less than 10 percent of actual school budgets, but that is leverage to impose regulations that burden schools, teachers, and communities.

Since the colonial period, education has been encouraged. Federal oversight and interference has not been encouraged, nor is it an enumerated power delegated by the Constitution. It's up to the parents to see that no child is left behind.

Tony Corte, Victoria

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