Writing on Independent Institute’s blog The Beacon, Vicky Alger observes that misleading ads are playing a big role in some elections, including our own Senate race. These ads “work” with voters who hold the erroneous belief that more spending on education is necessarily good, so you should vote for the candidate (Hagan here) who promises the most money for the education establishment. Alger points out that high spending does not mean good education for students. Much of the money that is sucked into the maw of the education establishment is just enjoyed by the education establishment.

Some high-spending states get miserable results in their schools while some low-spending states do much better. And more important, some of the best educational results of all are in low-budget private schools where teachers don’t have to be licensed, aren’t protected by unions, and are expected to work with teaching methods and curricula that are known to work.