> You gotta flip the button on the graphic to account for local, state, and federal spending. Gack, sorry, missed that. > That implicitly concedes that the ac

> You gotta flip the button on the graphic to account for local, state, and federal spending. Gack, sorry, missed that. > That implicitly concedes that the achievement gap is not due to a lack of funding, but due to external factors. Yes, I think that's well established. > So the question is, how to overcome those external factors? Why do we assume spending more money on teachers and facilities will do that? I don't assume that spending more money will be sufficient; I agree it probably won't be. However, I think it is probably necessary. What else will be required? Breaking the power of the teachers' unions, for one. Sounds like we agree on that. How to do both of these things at the same time is a problem I have no solution for.