"Nationally, inflation-adjusted per-pupil spending has increased by from $2,703 in 1960 to $10,720 in 2006 while the student-teacher ratio has decreased from 27 to 1 in 1950 to 15 to 1 in 2006. Paying an increasing number of teachers to educate smaller classes of students (or else take lighter teaching loads) has led to a burgeoning jobs market in the education profession."