When will Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy realize that more school spending don’t always translate into better results – and start talking about other ways to improve Colorado classrooms?

At the recent state Democratic Party Assembly, the co-author of Amendment 23 – the Colorado constitutional provision mandating K-12 education spending – was at it again.

“Our public schools lack the resources they need and they deserve,” said Kennedy, who is running for re-election. “I am working to make sure that, as our economy recovers, the first dollar that comes into the door goes into the classroom.”

However, even back in 2006 (the year Kennedy was first elected), Ben DeGrow of the Independence Institute reported the “lack of a relationship between total spending and academic outcome.” Download the full report, “Counting the Cash for K-12.”

According to DeGrow:

From 1988-89 to 2002-03 Colorado’s total per-pupil spending grew by more than 17 percent, despite limitations on taxation and government growth set by the Gallagher Amendment and Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR).

The Colorado General Assembly appropriated more dollars per student in the 2004-05 school year than at any previous point in state history.