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According to the California Department of Education (source 2) the average per pupil expense for the 07-08 school year was $8,594. This puts California just below the national average of around $9,000 per student, and well below states like New York and New Jersey who average around $12,000 per student.
As for other countries who are rated higher educationally than the United States:
**all data collected from OECD/PISA, chapter B, indicator B1 (source 1)
As for other countries who are rated higher educationally than the United States:
- Korea (ranked 1st in scientific literacy and 2nd in mathematic literacy): spends around $4500 per student for primary education and $6500 per student for secondary education.
- Japan (1st in mathematical literacy and 2nd in scientific literacy): spends around $6700 per student for primary education and around $8000 per student for secondary education.
- Finland (1st in reading literacy and 3rd in scientific literacy): around $5500 per student for primary education and around $7000 per student for secondary education.
- New Zealand (3rd in reading literacy and 3rd in mathematical literacy) around $5000 per student for primary education and around $6000 per student for secondary education.
**all data collected from OECD/PISA, chapter B, indicator B1 (source 1)
source(s):
http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_41266761_1_1_1_1,00....
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asphttp://www.siteselection.c...
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_41266761_1_1_1_1,00....
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asphttp://www.siteselection.c...
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66
voted helpful: rickg, philipy, truth7, bunnyphuphu
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When interpreting data like that it's important to bear in mind things like differences in costs of living, salaries and what exchange rates were used to calculate the figures etc.
For example it's quite possible that hiring a well-qualified science teacher in South Korea costs quite a bit less than for a similar person in California. So what looks in the figures like "South Korea spends less yet gets better results" might in practice actually mean "South Korea has more and better-qualified science teachers, and pays them very well compared to other job opportunities in South Korea."
This is just a "for instance". I don't know if it's true, but it is an important part of why for exampe Cuba has an excellent health system while paying peanuts.
International comparisons are tricky to do right!
I've found various sources that put S. Korea GDP at anywhere from $16K to $24K. Call it $20K for argument's sake. US per capita GDP is more than double that (somewhere between $45K and $50K). So, for primary education, relative to GDP, S. Korea and CA look comparable, but for secondary education, it looks like S. Korea spends about 1.5 times as much on a relative basis. That seems like a significant point of comparison.
ETA: And I see @philipy made a similar point while I was looking about for some numbers. I just do *not* type fast enough. :-)
It can be found at the following site at Chapter B, indicator B2. It shows both the US and Korea at 7.1%.
http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_41266761_1_1_1_1,00.html
The spreadsheet in D3 has the following on 2006 salaries (at PPP exchange rates)
Upper Secondary Teacher, just starting
Korea $30,405
US $33,695
Same, after 15 years experience
Korea $52,543
USA $42,727
Given the difference in US and S Korean living standards it seems teaching is probably considered a well-paid profession in Korea relative to others, and experienced teachers command what must be considered excellent salaries in that society.
Class sizes are bigger in Korea, with an average of 36 for lower secondary education in public institutions, while the comparable US figure is 24.9
Also Korea seems to have the lowest amount of time spent on instruction in the entire OECD. The figures for the US are not available though.