"Finland is spending a third less than us on education. What they're doing is changing the way they treat teachers. They hire the best and they make them work for their salary. They pay them on merit," said de Rugy. "Spending per student has tripled in the last 40 years and achievement scores in math, reading and science have remained completely flat." The problem, says de Rugy, is that the public schools are a monopoly and there's no competition.