Missouri Common Core Standards Cost of Implementation

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Officials, State Board of Education Members, and Elected Officials: 

The following article shows the costs to implement the Common Core Standards (CCS) in Missouri.  These costs are taken from a longer report that I completed on 10.15.12 and a comprehensive report prepared by the Pioneer Institute.  I will send my report to you separately.

I realize that Missouri is committed to the Common Core Standards.  You adopted the CCS and you have received about $27 million in competitive awards. 

It is my understanding that you are seriously considering dropping out of CCS; I applaud your initiative in this regard.  House Bill 616 (and SB 210) prohibits the SBOE and DESE from implementing CCS in Missouri. 

As the following article explains, there is some urgency in the decision.  If Missouri delays its decision, it could incur huge up-front, one-time costs of $246 million (68 % of the total cost) to implement CCS. 

Most states entered into the RTTT and CCS without solid estimates on CCS implementation.  As many of the states are moving ahead with CCS implementation, they are finding that the costs are quite high.  Some states are experiencing "buyer's remorse," and are dropping CCS. 

I strongly suggest that Missouri take a hard look at this issue. 

Thank you for educating the students in Missouri.

Henry W. Burke

E-mail: hwburke@cox.net     

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Missouri Common Core Implementation Costs

by Henry W. Burke

3.06.13

It will cost Missouri $336 million (net amount) to implement the Common Core Standards (CCS).  Where will Missouri find $336 million to implement the mediocre Common Core Standards?   

I will call your attention to an excellent Pioneer Institute report, "National Cost of Aligning States and Localities to the Common Core Standards," dated February 2012 (PI report) and my report, "States' Taxpayers Cannot Afford Common Core Standards," by Henry W. Burke, dated 10.15.12 (Burke report).  These are the links to the reports:

http://www.pioneerinstitute.org/pdf/120222_CCSSICost.pdf

http://educationviews.org/states-taxpayers-cannot-afford-common-core-standards/

I also wrote a companion report applicable to the states that did not adopt the Common Core Standards, "Non-Common Core States Will Save Millions of Dollars," by Henry W. Burke, 10.18.12:

http://educationviews.org/non-common-core-states-will-save-millions-of-dollars/

I encourage you to realistically evaluate the costs versus the benefits for the State of Missouri.  I will focus only on the cost of implementing the Common Core Standards (CCS) versus the dollar awards received from the federal government. 

I thought I would offer a little insight into the CCS implementation costs.  This explanation includes the Pioneer report figures and my assumptions.  Obviously, I cannot speak for the Pioneer Institute nor its partners in the white paper, Accountability Works and Pacific Research Institute.  These are strictly my thoughts, assumptions and calculations.

The Pioneer Institute report identified four cost categories for CCS implementation.  The categories are: Testing, Professional Development, Textbooks, and Technology.  Pioneer calculated the total CCS implementation cost over a 7-year time period. 

The PI report included bar graphs (without dollar figures) for each state in Professional Development, Textbooks, and Technology.  The Appendices to the PI report showed exact dollar figures for each state in only the Textbooks and Technology categories.  This is the link to the Pioneer Institute Appendices:

http://www.accountabilityworks.org/photos/Appendices.Common_Core_Cost.AW.pdf

Consequently, I had to derive figures for Testing and Professional Development for each of the 46 states.  My goal was to duplicate the Pioneer figures as closely as possible.  My nationwide totals for the four categories agree quite closely with the Pioneer Institute report. 

A.  Missouri CCS Loss

The State of Missouri submitted proposals to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Race to the Top (RTTT) program and received a rank of No. 33 in Phase 1 and a rank of No. 30 in Phase 2 of that competition.  The 12 "winning" states under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of RTTT received a total of $3.941 billion.  Missouri did not receive any funds under the Phase 1 and 2 competitions.  In subsequent competitions, Missouri received $26,530,835 ($26.531 million) for competitive stimulus awards.

In the Burke Table 1, CCS Loss Per State, the CCS Total Cost for Missouri is $362.058 million; and the federal competitive award total is $26.531 million.  The difference is $335.527 million.

[$362.058 million - $26.531 million = $335.527 million]

This means Missouri will have to find $336 million to pay for the implementation expense of CCS.

B.  Missouri CCS Cost

In the Burke Table 2, CCS Cost Per Student, we can see that Missouri has a CCS Cost per Student of $394.  This is slightly higher than the average cost per student of $379 (average cost for the 46 CCS states).

Table 3, Total CCS Cost, lists the components making up the Total CCS Cost of $362.058 million for Missouri.  Testing cost is $27.243 million; Professional Development cost is $130.914 million; Textbook cost is $53.930 million; and Technology cost is $149.971 million.

In round numbers, Missouri will spend $27 million on Testing, $131 million on Professional Development, $54 million on Textbooks, and $150 million on Technology.  The Total CCS Cost for Missouri will be $362 million.

Explanation of Figures

1.  Testing

a.  Nationwide CCS Testing Cost

Testing is a function of the number of students tested.  Table 5 in my report shows the Total Nationwide Cost for the 46 CCS states.  My Table 5 duplicates Pioneer Figure 2B (on page 2 of the PI report).  Figure 2B shows a Total Testing Cost of $1,240,641,297. 

Table 6 (Burke report) lists the number of students and teachers in each of the 46 states; the total for the 46 states is 41,805,062 students.  I obtained all of the numbers in Table 6 from the Pioneer report Appendices (NCES: 2009 - 2010 School Year). 

When I divided $1,240,641,297 by 41,805,062 students, I obtained a factor of $29.67681993 per student.  This Testing cost factor was applied to each of the 46 states to get the Testing cost for each state.  My Total Testing Cost of $1,240.641 million agrees with the Pioneer Figure 2B number.

b.  Missouri CCS Testing Cost

Missouri has a total student enrollment of 917,982 students (Burke Table 6).  When I multiplied 917,982 students by the $29.6768 factor per student, I obtained $27.243 million.

[917,982 students  x  $29.67681993 per student = $27,242,787]

2.  Professional Development

The purpose of Professional Development is to train the teachers on the new Common Core academic standards.  Professional Development is a function of the number of teachers that must be trained.  Pioneer used a Professional Development cost of $1,931 per teacher.

Missouri has 67,796 teachers (Burke Table 6).  When I multiplied 67,796 teachers by $1,931 per teacher, I obtained $130.914 million.

[67,796 teachers  x  $1,931 per teacher = $130,914,076]

[Incidentally, my calculations produced a Professional Development Cost for California of $605.938 million.  The PI report bar graph showed the number $606 million for California.  This verifies that my calculation assumptions and methodology are correct.]

3.  Textbooks

I obtained the Textbook cost for Missouri directly from the Pioneer Institute Appendix.  The Table in the Appendix showed a Total Textbook Cost for Missouri of $53,930,266 ($53.930 million).

The PI Appendix listed the following numbers for Textbooks and Instructional Materials:

Missouri Textbook Cost

(Millions of Dollars)

Grade	Textbook Cost ($ Millions)
K	4.941
1	4.543
2	3.685
3	3.787
4	3.460
5	3.418
6	3.997
Subtotal -- K - 6	27.831
7	4.009
8	4.077
9	4.665
Subtotal -- 7 - 9	12.751
10	4.339
11	4.599
12	4.410
Subtotal -- 10 - 12	13.348
Total -- K - 12	53.930

4.  Technology

I obtained the Technology cost for Missouri directly from the Pioneer Appendix.  The PI Appendix lists the Total Technology Cost for Missouri as $149,970,678 ($149.971 million).

The PI Appendix provides the following information:

Missouri Technology Cost 

(Millions of Dollars)

Description	Technology Cost ($ Millions)	Total Technology Cost ($ Millions)
One-Time Costs	61.403	61.403
Year 1 Operations	6.530	6.530
Years 2 - 7 Operations (Annual)	13.67298	--
Total for 6 Years (Years 2 - 7)	82.038	82.038
Total Technology Cost		149.971

C.  Urgency of Decision

We know that the total cost to implement CCS in Missouri will be $362.058 million ($362 million), but we have not said anything about the timing.  The timing for the expenditures is extremely important!

A sizeable portion of the total CCS implementation cost is spent early in the process.  In the Pioneer Report Figure 2B, two-thirds (66 %) of the Total Cost falls into the up-front, one-time cost period.  Pioneer shows a one-time cost of $10,522,885,028; the Total Cost is $15,835,121,347.  When I divide these two numbers, I get 66 %.

For Missouri, the figures are as follows:

Timing of Missouri CCS Costs

(Millions of Dollars)

Cost Category	Up-Front, One-Time Cost  ($ Millions)	Years 1 - 7 Cost ($ Millions)	Total Cost -- Up-Front & for 7 Years ($ Millions)
Testing	--	27.243	27.243
Professional Development	130.914	--	130.914
Textbooks	53.930	--	53.930
Technology	61.403	88.568	149.971
Total Cost	246.247	115.811	362.058
Percentage of Total	68 %	32 %	100 %

As this table shows, 68 % of the total cost ($246.247 million) is incurred as an up-front, one-time cost.  If Missouri has any interest in dropping the CCS, the state should act very soon.  Much of the CCS implementation expense (68 %) hits very early in the process.  If the state delays the decision to drop CCS, it could waste $246 million on a system that it is not going to use.  The decision is urgent!

Please contact me if you would like copies of my two reports.

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Bio for Henry W. Burke

Henry Burke is a Civil Engineer  with a B.S.C.E. and M.S.C.E.  He has been a Registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) for 37 years and has worked as a Civil Engineer in construction for over 40 years.

Mr. Burke had a successful 27-year career with a large construction contractor. 

Henry Burke serves as a full-time volunteer to oversee various construction projects. He has written numerous articles on education, engineering, construction, politics, taxes, and the economy.

Henry W. Burke

E-mail:  hwburke@cox.net