[xrange]

Anyone have a good estimate the total amount of money spent in the name of education in the U.S. in the last 50 years? I'd be interested to see the total pre-k through university graduate school, including both public (local, state, federal) and private.

[asdfsdfknl]

Not a direct answer, but as someone working in this space, I'd like to also mention that while more money in education is probably good, I doubt it does anything. There are structural and cultural problems in the education system in the United States that cannot be solved with money.

[troupe]

I'd suggest looking at the cost per student. Otherwise, your results are going to be pretty influenced by population trends.

I don't have the numbers you are looking for, but here is the closest I know off the top of my head for my town. Back in the mid 70s, my town was spending right at $1,000 per student. That is a bit over $4,000 in today's dollars. Today they are spending a bit more than $12,000 per student. The $12,000 seems pretty typical for many of the school systems I've seen.

If wages grew as fast as our spending on education, the average wage in the US would be over $110,000 instead of the roughly $40,000 I think it is today. (That $40k may be high. I can't remember if it is household or individual income.)