WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- An advocacy group is pushing for every U.S. state to adopt a requirement that 65 cents of every dollar spent on education go directly to the classroom.
First Class Education, founded earlier this year, argues that the amount of money spent on schools matters less than curbing spending on administration, Stateline.org reported.
"Taxpayers want to make sure that before we're asked for more dollars, we know we're getting the most out of our dollars that are currently being spent on education," said Tim Mooney, a Republican political consultant from Arizona, who founded the group with backing from Patrick Byrne, president of Overstock.com.
Byrne pointed to the schools in Washington, D.C., which spend about $12,000 per pupil and have average test scores near the bottom.
Nationally, an average of 61.5 percent of the education dollar goes to the classroom. Maine, New York, Tennessee and Utah are the only states that meet the 65-cent standard, down from seven states four years ago.
