We’re 49th! We’re 49th! We’re 49th! (or maybe 50th or 51st)

The 24 hour shelf life of the Mutual Admiration Society between Matthew Ladner and me has expired. It was fun while it lasted. There's a genuine battle raging out there, both in the search for truth (or as close as we can get) and in the quest for the hearts and minds of Arizonans. It's time to shake hands and get back to our battle stations.

I want you to ask yourself, as I have asked myself, why have the Goldwater Institute and conservative legislators spent so much time and energy trying to debunk, or downplay, the idea that Arizona is 49th in the nation in per student spending? They've denied it. They've danced around it. They've told us, "Move along, folks. There's nothing to see here."

The answer is simple. The phrase, "49th in the nation in per student spending" is an Arizona Conservative's nightmare. And it's Arizona Progressive gold. Every other argument crumbles in its wake. If Democrats keep saying, "Arizona is 49th in the nation in per student spending," they win the education argument in the court of public opinion, every time. The other side can shout, "$9,700 per student!" It can cite test scores. It can talk about teacher salaries and the percent of school funding that goes into the classroom. But all that comes across as weak tea and wonky excuses — kind of like the arguments Democrats too often fall back on when confronted by crisp Republican talking points — against the steady Democratic drum beat, "The fact is, we're 49th in the nation in per student spending." All the "Yes, but's" in the world can't defeat that one simple, powerful statement.

Conservatives hope and pray they can get Dems and others who are for more funding for public schools to shut the hell up about our being 49th in the nation in per student spending. And if Dems succumb and move onto another way of framing the education debate, they're fools. Everything should revolve around that one easy to say, easy to understand fact: "We're 49th in the nation in per student spending."

But is it a fact? Let's look at what authoritative sources are saying.

On one side is the Goldwater Institute and others who have picked up their mantra. G.I. originally said, Arizona spends $9,700 per student, which puts us in the middle of the states in per student spending. But courtesy of the lengthy debate on BfA, G.I. has walked away from the "middle of the pack" statement and simply says, "Arizona spends $9,700 per student, and that's a lot of money."

On the other side are rankings and figures from national groups:

• 50th, at $6,248 per student in 2006-7. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) [a conservative group, by the way]
• 51st, at $5,255 per student in 2006-7. The National Education Association (NEA)
• 49th, at $6,472 per student in K-12 Public Education Finances, 2005-6. The  U.S. Census Bureau
• 50th, at $7,112 per student in 2006. Education Week

The groups' per student spending numbers vary, based, I guess, on the items each chooses to include. But all four groups have one thing in common. They don't have a dog in this hunt. They don't care which state comes out on the top and which ends up on the bottom. So we have every reason to assume their rankings are reasonably objective. And they all rank Arizona 49th or 50th — or 51st if you throw D.C. into the mix.

Oh wait, I almost forgot to include Tom Horne, Arizona Superintendent of Public Education. He agrees that we're currently 49th in the nation in per student spending. I guess he's just another one of those confused liberals who refuses to look at the facts.