By themselves, these numbers are meaningless: real spending did not grow by nearly 800 percent.

When adjusted for inflation, real spending fell 1 percent.

Between 1970 and 1988, real spending per student in public schools rose more than 50 percent.

And since the population is going to grow over time, it means an even bigger cut in real spending per person.

But it remains well above the national goal of steady real spending set by President Clinton.

In addition, real federal spending per pupil has nearly tripled since 1970.

The budget office assumes that real discretionary spending will be constant at the level given in the first year of the 10-year forecast.

From 1970 to 1990, real spending on health leaped 140 percent.

This would be the first time the state lowered its real spending since 1960.

In fact, he asserted, the real "big spending" goes to interest on Federal borrowing.