I suspect we spend so much per pupil because overall we spend so little on the rest of society. A school in a neighborhood with a lot of generational poverty is

I suspect we spend so much per pupil because overall we spend so little on the rest of society. A school in a neighborhood with a lot of generational poverty is going to have a lot of social problems. Those social problems are going to negatively impact the lives of students, who will then bring those problems to the school with them. Dealing with those problems requires additional staff, which require additional salary.