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At least with pensions, funds are being invested in assets with direct value that can be recaptured in 30 years; even in the optimistic case where new schools really add value, that value may well just get up and leave if taxes are raised in 30 years to pay for the loan.

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The "force multiplier" from education is better than anything else; labour is the greatest single cost to almost all businesses, and the amount of education needed is high and will only increase in the future. Alongside healthcare it's pretty much the best possible use of government money.

Whether these new schools improve education is of course an open question.

On a national level, yes. But on a district level, what proportion of the children who were educated in a given school district end up working there and paying taxes after they grow up?

But as the adage goes, the only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.

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