31 The following appeared in a letter to the editor of Parson City's local newspaper."In our region of Trillura, the majority of money spent on the schools that most students attend—the city-run public schools—comes from taxes that each city government co

The author asserts that Parson City residents place a higher value on providing good education than Blue City, for the reason that Parson City spends more money per year for public schools than Blue City. Although the argument seems plausible at the first glance, a close scrutiny reveals its untenability.

At the first place, although the tax payers of Parson City pay more money for the public schools, it does not mean that the public schools in Blue City has less money on education. Maybe the tuition of public schools of Blue City is relatively higher, or perhaps the public schools receive more donation than ones of Parson City. Thus, without the statistics of money possessed by public schools of these two cities, the author cannot claim whether Parson City or Blue City places a higher value education.

Secondly, even though Parson City spends twice as much per year as Blue City, the amount of money spent on each student in these two cities is unknown. If the students of Parson City is more than twice as much as Blue City, the average money spent on each student of Parson City would be lower than Blue City. If the education quality depends on the money spent for per students, the education quality of Parson City may be lower though the total money residents provide on education is higher. Therefore, without the statistics about the number of students, the author cannot conclude that Parson City residents place a higher value on good education.

Finally, the value of education does not only depend on how much money spent on education. Perhaps the teachers of Blue City are more responsible than teachers of Parson City. Or perhaps the parents in Blue City would spend more time on assisting their children to study. It is a strong possibility that the value of education in Blue City is much higher than Parson City, since the money is not the only factor has an influence on the education quality.

In conclusion, the author fails to prove that the Parson City residents place a higher value on providing good education, at least bases on this letter. To make the argument more persuasive, the author should provide more statistics about the money public school received per year, as well as the number of students in these two cities. More information about the teaching quality is also appreciated.