Fuzzy Math

Washington, D.C.'s Education Department says it spends $17,542 per student annually, but hidden costs bring the true price tag to $28,170, or approximately two and a half times the median cost of sending a kid to private school in the Washington area, the Cato Institute says.  By listing spending for construction, pensions, debt service, and other items in separate accounts, the 18 school districts studied by Cato could claim they spent an average of $12,500 per child, even though the actual amount was $18,000, according to the report titled, "They Spend WHAT?"  the Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, says it spends $10,053 on each of its 737,000 students, but its accounts show the real per-kid cost as $25,208.