This morning, the D.C. Council opens wide the door to the spiraling costs of providing transportation for 3,500 special- education students, whose busing system currently costs taxpayers about $26,285 per student, per year. Of course, the laws of humanity dictate that no expense be spared to educate children with special needs, though the money is not actually being spent on teaching and learning.
Memphis schools Supt. Kriner Cash doesn't get many opportunities to discuss peer-to-peer the challenges of urban education in Tennessee, a state of mostly rural districts. Friday, speaking to the Council of Urban Boards of Education at The Peabody, he didn't have to explain or defend why it costs more per student to educate urban children or why a 70 percent graduation rate is a triumph.
The cookie analogy (used in a television advertisement by voucher backers) has serious flaws. It completely ignores fixed and variable costs. Student per-pupil spending takes all the costs of education and is divided by each student. If one student leaves a classroom -- or even 20 in a school -- the costs of the school remain the same. You still pay for heat, electricity, computers, custodians, library, counselors, secretary and support staff. Even books and desks remain the same because class size varies per grade level. District and state administration does not change. Show me where this so-called savings will occur. Instead, we are now funding private-school students who never intended to use public education. That sounds like extra costs to me.
As a retired college math teacher, I would like to help columnist Bob Bernick with his math. A free public education is an entitlement that costs Utah taxpayers more than $6,000 per student per year. A private school voucher is an alternate entitlement that would cost less than $3,000. It is perfectly consistent for Republicans who dislike entitlements to be pro-vouchers.
Pour me another glass of SAD 63's rich and creamy milk. Yes, my analogy for the 2007-08 proposed $9 million school budget is similar to viewing as if it were a clear glass full of milk. Funding for students continues to sink towards the bottom as teacher expenditures struggle to stay afloat in the middle. I believe the thickest cream floating up top is in administrative costs. Money paid by taxpayers for our children's education continues to dwindle as we dole out more dollars per student for administration costs. A clear example of expenditures depriving children is now on the proposed chopping block to reduce SAD 63's Title 1 Reading Recovery teaching staff. If this reduction goes through, affected students will suffer the most. Being able to read competently is an essential part of l...
..., we also celebrated the passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act. This landmark ... Education Initiative which covered college costs for a group of inner city youth, and was instrumen...
... and one of the most likely to frustrate students. It is built upon the foundation of opportunity co...
Associate Editor gsmart@lnpnews.com
... the meantime, as students leave, district costs skyrocket. Elanco officials now must budget an add... $9,311 to educate every nonspecial education student (and $15,356 per special education student...
Pressure from the federal and state government to cut special- education costs is causing more North Jersey school districts to create their own programs and educate disabled students closer to home. District officials predict that the immediate expense of creating special-education classes - through construction and hiring teachers - has long-term benefits. It eliminates tuition and transporting students to private programs, which can cost up to $100,000 per student.
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