School quality is very much on the minds of Iowans and many others. Real (constant-dollar) spending per pupil in Iowa public K-12 schools has increased steadily since 1960 up to 1992-93 when it flattened out. Per-pupil real expenditures are an eye-popping 2.8 times larger than in 1960, and the pupil-teacher ratio has declined about 34 percent -- mostly between 1970 and 1990.