Why are we not getting the schools we’re paying for?
I read this Modest Proposal for Saving Our Schools by Tom McClintock (Don't recognize the name? He ran against Arnold for Governor of California) and my jaw about hit the floor. As Chris mentioned to me after he read it, these facts have always been assumed but no one ever took the time to actually quantify them. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea it was this bad!
As you read the proposal, notice how Mr. McClintock goes over and above in every single aspect of funding - often to the point of ridiculousness:
I also propose setting aside $3 billion to pay an additional 30,000 school bureaucrats $100,000-per-year (roughly the population of Monterey) with the proviso that they stay away from the classroom and pay their own hotel bills at conferences.The question this proposal has to raise is: Into which sinkhole is all the money currently dissappearing?
Kudos to Mr. McClintock for framing this debate as it should be, and in a manner that is crystal clear (even to those from Rio Linda) and absolutly brilliant. While you read over his proposal just remember, the Washington DC schools spent $11,847 per student last year.
Andy, via these comments to a very good La Shawn Barber rant.
Comments
We out here in CA have seen this article all over the place. The silence from the "education" mafia is deafening. They won't ever try to rebut it, since they can't. Before McClintock blew them out of the water with this piece, the educrats always insisted that they needed twice the money as private schools because "they had to take everyone". Well, Tom factored out the Special Ed and other mandates, and still shot them dead. There is simply no way to defend the fact that we spend $10,000 per student in public schools while private (better) ones spend half that.
Posted by: Scott in CA | June 15, 2005 05:43 PM
The kids in DC would be better of if we don,t give them a public education and instead invest $11,874.00 per year on their 6th thru 18th birthday. ON their 19th birthday they can be given the interest about $ 10,000. As they go onto SS at 65 you could give them the $142,488.
Certainly this would be more valuable to them tha a DC public school education is today.
Posted by: theo p. | June 15, 2005 07:21 PM
I live in N.H., and we don't have this problem yet. Public schools are properly driven by local community. Let them run it and the mistakes, and triumphs, will be their own.
Everything else is a disaster.
Posted by: Josh Davenport | June 15, 2005 07:49 PM
I guess I'm in shock...
We send our kids to a private, Catholic school. We paid almost 8,000$$, including bussing. For three kids. We fund raise like crazy (beg)--but, I can't imagine them in the local public system. Do I think my kids are smarter or more special or better than public school kids? No. I'm hoping after tis education, though, they will be :) We're broke all the time, but according to the testings taken (Stafford?), grades four through eight are all two test grades above "normal". That's not the word I was looking for, but it'll do.
They also pray often, go to Mass, sing great Christian songs at Christmas concerts, and wear plain uniforms.
A health club to fight childhood obesity? Amazing article.
Posted by: karen | June 15, 2005 10:48 PM