'Public School System Wasn't Working'

I used to be a teacher.

I quit because I wanted to be a journalist, but also because the public school system wasn't working. Money wasn't the problem. In fact, too much money was part of the problem.

Teachers were forced to use methods that didn't work just because administrators wanted to keep federal grant money flowing. And more money certainly didn't solve the problem of discipline in the classroom.

But there is a school model that does much more for a lot less. Catholic high schools in New York City have graduation rates that are twice as high as the city's public schools. And yet Catholic schools spend about $4,500 educating each student, while public schools in New York spend about $15,000 per student, and New York's mayor wants to increase that spending to $20,000 per student.

Now, I know all the Constitutional problems about mixing church and state. That's not the point right here. The question is why does one system do so much better at educating our kids, when it uses less than one-third the money doing so? That's a question that mayors, school boards and public school administrators should be forced to answer before we give them another penny for education..

And that’s the Asman Observer.

Watch David Asman on "FOX News Live" weekdays at noon ET.