Value is an incredibly difficult concept to pin down. Aaron does an excellent job of using it well. Is it value when a school provides an excellent education for a child? Is that value diminished when the school charges four times as much as any other school in the country?

I’ve worked in education my entire life, as a teacher, administrator, school lawyer and student. I’ve drawn a few conclusions about education, but the biggest question that keeps reappearing is a question of value.

Quantifying the value of education is incredibly challenging. This morning on NPR I heard a piece about Hillary Clinton talking about values. She used Joe Biden’s quote which goes something like this. “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value.”

So the issue is not figuring out what we value. The issue is figuring out what we value more.