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Yesterday, education blogger Corey Bower challenged the received truth that U.S. Education spending has skyrocketed:

[W]hile education spending in the U.S. appears to have skyrocketed over the past 85 years, it has actually shrunk as a ratio of wealth over the past 25.... [R]eal per-pupil expenditures almost doubled between 1980 and 2005, but real per capita [Gross Domestic Product] nearly quadrupled during that same timespan....  In other words, even though we're spending more money on education we're spending a lower percentage of our wealth on education.

Public schools have not enjoyed a full share in the fruits of economic growth. Let's hope that they--and the children they serve-won't experience more than their fair share of the nation's financial distress.

Not only are public districts and schools facing severe budget cuts, many have to contend with the consequences of growing student poverty. Schools around the country may well become social service providers of last resort as other social service agencies suffer deep budget cuts.

Now is not the time for divestment from public education, which lays a foundation for the nation's future prosperity.  The Learning First Alliance has a few ideas about strategic federal investments that promise to boost student learning:

• More research on what works.  Less than one percent of the federal research budget currently goes to education.  Schools need much more help in adopting or scaling up successful strategies for boosting student learning.
• More resources for students in greatest need.   There are shocking resource disparities between, and even within, school districts.  All too often, students who need the most receive the least.
• Comprehensive supports for students and families.  Especially in hard times, disadvantaged students and their families need more support in areas such as health care, early childhood education, and excellent after-school programs.

Read more about these and other ideas in our recent publication, Transforming the Federal Role in America's Public Schools.