NY and CA spend billions more in taxes than TX and FL — and get worse results

Ryan Fazio

...Our big four states provide a good test case for two very different visions: Do higher taxes and bigger government actually deliver better outcomes, particularly in terms of education, poverty alleviation, and infrastructure? Or can simpler governments and lower taxes actually raise the fortunes of their citizens? Here, the facts tell the story. And while this analysis is simple, it suggests that the grand visions of progressives in California and New York have failed to deliver on their promises. Neither blue state has shown any clear ability to improve the academic outcomes of their kids, alleviate poverty for those in need, or provide good roads and bridges for their people. While Texas and Florida have their share of problems, they seem to foster more upward mobility and trust in government, which partly explains why 6.4 million people have moved to those states since 2010.

 New York spends the most of any state per pupil by far at over $23,000 and nearly twice as much as the national average of around $12,000. California spends just above the national average. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas spend much less, just north of $9,000. But the difference in outputs is actually quite small. In 2017, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that students in New York and Texas both scored around the national average in fourth and eighth grades, as did Floridians in eighth. Florida students in fourth grade scored above the national average, while California students in both grades scored below the national average. Minority students in Florida, meanwhile, tested among the highest in the nation across the board, with black students overall scoring 240 out of 500 on a simple average of the four tests (compared to 234 nationally) and Hispanic students scoring 250 (compared to 240 nationally). In Texas, minority students also performed better than nationally (238 for blacks, 243 for Hispanics). In New York, minority students scored just above or around the national average (236 for blacks, 237 for Hispanics), while in California they both performed below it (231 for blacks, 235 for Hispanics).

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