Roughly four times the investment ought to leave its mark. Instead, college readiness fell — and it isn't because more students are taking the test. Participation barely moved. The same share sat the exam. Fewer were ready for college. Spending went up. Outcomes went down.

Here's the math. Over the last two decades, enrollment and classroom teachers each rose about 4 percent. The number of managers — superintendents, directors, coordinators — rose 33 percent. The further a position sat from a classroom, the faster the hiring went. Last year alone, districts cut 347 classroom teachers while adding 153 managers.

Kansas law sets a goal: at least 65 percent of spending should reach instruction. Districts have never once met it. Last year the figure was 52.5 percent — the lowest in seventeen years. Had Kansas hit its own target, $13.2 billion more would have reached classrooms since 2005.

This is the first of three essays on Kansas schools. The next two ask why no one was ever made to answer for it — and what it would take to actually fix it.