(CNSNews.com) - Candidates for the American Association of School Administrators’ (AASA) National Superintendent of the Year Award gathered at the National Press Club on Tuesday and offered their take on why the District of Columbia ranks among the highest for the amount of education dollars it spends per pupil but among the lowest on standardized test scores.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2010, "states and state equivalents that spent the most per pupil were New York ($17,173), New Jersey ($16,491), Alaska ($14,630), the District of Columbia ($14,594), Vermont ($14,300) and Connecticut ($13,848)."

CNSNews.com asked the candidates why they think Washington, D.C.’s public schools rank among the lowest on standardized test scores but spend one of the highest amounts per pupil on education and what can be done to improve the situation.

“I think it’s important to understand that while we all could use additional resources, simply pouring money into the system is not the answer but it’s actually focusing your response and I can’t comment specifically on the efforts here but I will say that given the diverse population here, it’s consistency and effort; it’s staying the course with a system of supports,” said Marcus P. Johnson, the superintendent of Sanger Unified School District in California.

Dr. Tom Trigg, the superintendent of Blue Valley School District in Overland Park, Kansas said problems with the D.C. public school system cannot be solved by the schools alone.

“It’s a school problem, yes, but it’s a community problem. It absolutely cannot be solved by the school district alone. The entire DC community is going to have to come together,” he said at the National Press Club on Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

“They’re going to have to join hands and they’re going to have to decide, how are we going to attack this poverty issue, quite frankly, in such a way that we can assist the schools doing the job that they need to do to educate, you know, the whole child; and until everybody embraces that and really decides and understands that the issue is so far reaching that it’s going to take a community collaborative effort, I think it’s going to be very, very difficult to solve the problem.”

Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher, superintendent of Greenville County Schools in South Carolina echoed Trigg’s comments.

“At some point, the district, the entire community will have to look at Washington and say, ‘Washington, D.C., you need to lead the way for public education.’ This is where we really have a lot of all our nation’s – the Presidents, everyone, we find them here in Washington,” she said.

“So you need to lead the way. In order to lead the way, then, they must determine the learning accountability. This is the center; this is what we’re for and start developing systems.”

Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel, superintendent of the Renton Public School District in Washington state, said that in five years she has seen classrooms change “dramatically” in Renton. She said there are currently 87 languages spoken among their 14,500 students and teachers have to be able to adapt to these changes.

“I’ll use the last statement I made with coordinated efforts in making sure that diverse learning needs are met, not just of students but of staff. You have a differential need of strategies for teacher expertise in meeting the diverse needs. Classrooms have changed dramatically,” she said.