How Could We Spend $600 Billion If It Wasn’t Spent in Iraq?

According to the Congressional Research Service, the federal government has so far given approximately $600 billion dollars toward operations in Iraq. What if that money was spent on education instead of a failed strategy in Iraq?

School Buildings

$12,885,000: Average cost of building a public elementary school in 2008.
$20,000,000: Average cost of building a public middle school in 2008.
$40,643,000: Average cost of building a public high school in 2008.

8,160: Number of elementary, middle, and high schools that could have been built at this cost. That’s 8,160 elementary schools, 8,160 middle schools, and 8,160 high schools.

Teachers

$48,700: Average elementary school teacher salary
616,016: Number of elementary school teachers that theymoney could pay for 20 years at this salary level.

$49,470: Average middle school teacher salary
606,428: Number of middle school teachers that the money could pay for 20 years at this salary level.

$51,150: Average high school teacher salary
586,510: Number of high school teachers that the money could pay for 20 years at this salary level.

College Cost

$4,310: The largest yearly Pell grant offered to a college student by the federal government.
34,802,784: The number of four-year Pell grants—a total worth of $17,240—that could be granted with that money.

$12,514: The average cost of one year of education at a public college.
47,946,300: The number of years of public college education that could be funded at this cost.
11,986,575: Number of students whose entire four-year college education could be funded at this level.

This material [article] was created by the Center for American Progress

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