Posted by As the budgets have been written, debated, and rewritten, some difficult decisions have forced upon this body, particularly with respect to the Education Budget. We’ve had to make decisions about whether to cut the benefits and compensation of educators, or to keep the lights on in the classroom; whether to revamp and fund a program designed to recruit and retain the best and brightest educators, or to fund liability insurance for the educators we have. And, these decisions don’t even account for the cost of replacing the school systems completely destroyed by the recent tornadoes that devastated North Alabama.
These have not been easy decisions, especially when some revenue options aren’t even on the table for discussion. HB373, for example, would require any corporation with a “business nexus” in the State of Alabama to pay income tax on the income generated here, just as any small business would do. In short, a corporation making profits in Alabama as a result of the business conducted here would pay taxes on that income, even if it’s incorporated in Delaware (a popular tax lawyer trick). Currently, such corporations pay no State income taxes, and such revenue makes up a a large part of the money we would otherwise use to fund our schools. Believe it or not, HB373 has not even gotten a hearing in committee, despite numerous requests and assurances from the House floor that it would.
This revenue shortage in our education fund has a profound impact, not just on schools across the State, but also in the schools in our individual districts. In 2008, my predecessor had over $62,000 in discretionary funds to distribute in the community for education-related purposes. This year, there is less that $33,000 to spend in my district. These are dollars that I could use to help the schools in my district buy books or uniforms for their students, or to pay for a long-needed project that they cannot fit into an already stretched budget. As it stands, I will either have to split the money evenly between all nine schools ($3,666 apiece), or I will have to prioritize the few dollars we have.
I’ve done considerable research on school funding as I’ve studied the issue and talked to my principals, and I’ve come to learn that not all schools are funded equally. All schools receive county and State funds, but some schools, for example, receive federal dollars for every child enrolled who receives free or reduced lunches (correlated to whether that child’s proximity to the poverty line). After talking with many of my principals, I’ve come to the conclusion that in prioritization of dollars, we must first consider the Title I dollars available to a school, and, second, we must weigh the ability of students to raise their own money or to bring supplies from home. The principals tell me that it is difficult to convince parents of high school kids to send school supplies. There are a few factors outstanding that I need to consider before I distribute my discretionary dollars at the end of the month, and there remain a couple of principals I’ve been unable to reach. But, after considering all these factors, I hope to prioritize my discretionary dollars for the schools in my district that need them most. That said, no school will go without because all have legitimate needs.
These are just some of the difficult decisions that must be made in difficult economic times. What is hardest is not that some schools and their students will go without. It’s that they don’t have to. Under our current budgetary situation, we can’t avoid forcing a principal to choose between repairing a leaky roof and replacing 10 year old text books. Unless we have more options on the table for funding our schools, our children will continue to be short-changed in the classroom, and I just hope that decision hasn’t already been made.
Mr. Conservative-
I read every word :) One issue…privatization is not always better or cheaper. Take, for instance, using a private custodial service to clean schools. They cost thousands of dollars each month (more than those employees and benefits). They frequently can only work evenings, which poses a problem when you have a clean-up on aisle 3. Private companies don’t utilize the same strenuous background checks as school systems are SUPPOSED to- and you run a liability risk of hiring a pedophile to work in your school. Same is true for a private bus company. The safety factor is missing, the background check is questionable, and perhaps most important, these folks don’t have the same sense of pride in their school or school system.
By the way- if we did tax corporations like Wal-Mart or Home Depot- do you honestly think they would leave? Where would they go?
Illrember,
I will agree that privatization is not ALWAYS cheaper, BUT you must also agree that public entities do not account for the full cost. Payroll and benefits are just part of the puzzle. Equipment costs, up-keep, debt services on capital are all costs that get buried into other budgetary items and are almost never considered when comparing public vs private. A private industry lumps all of those costs into their overhead, which is included in their price.
The industry I am in often times recieves contracted work from the State, Those contracts have been pointed to in recent weeks as costing far more for the state than simply performing the work “in-house.” After doing a little research I found that the State allocated 13 times our fee for the work performed. The remaining 93% went to the State for contract administration. Privatization is more efficient in that we performed 95% of the work for 7% of the budget. This seems to reinforce Mr. Conservative’s point… Layer upon layer of bureaucratic bull.
I too read your entire post, Mr. Conservative.
Mr. Conservative, I agree with you about the importance of a student’s desire to learn and whether learning is a priority in the environment at home. I agree with you on the value of discipline, and the lack of same in a lot of schools. I agree with you on how there’s a problem with incompetent teachers and administrators, and I support efforts to make it easier to get rid of those folks. I agree with you that there’s a bloat of non-teacher administrators that needs to be shrunk. I agree with you that some things could be privatized, although I don’t think that’s the fix for everything on the planet. I will tolerate, as I will with others, your stories about going to school in non-air conditioned classrooms, having old books, etc. (I experienced that too and learned in spite of it; that doesn’t mean I want my kids to experience it too). I’ll agree you on the value of being exposed to Plato, Socrates, Smith, Shakespeare, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, the Federalist Papers and Gibbon to help someone become a truly educated person. I have no problems with parents wanting to see results and value for their investment in schools.
What I don’t agree with is your seeming dismissal of modern technology, the “new computers” crack. If the job of the schools is to prepare kids for life as well as educate them, that technology is going to have to be in place. And it’s going to cost money. And yes, kids are going to check their Facebook, their iTunes, etc., at school, just like 95 percent of the adults out there (including me, and including this site) at work. Because that is life, that is the world, that is the economy in 2011, and it’s changing not just by the year but seemingly by the minute.
I also agree with you that a poor person never hired anyone, but those who are hired by anyone these days are never going to make a decent living by the sweat of their brow anymore (my father, rest his soul, who had a ninth-grade education, supported a whole bunch of kids comfortably on a steel worker’s salary; we’d starve today), it’s getting increasingly difficult to make a living with your brain (there are a lot of people who’ve spent their lives analyzing Shakespeare who can’t find gainful employment), you’ve got to know the technology, not just computer but other skills. And you can’t train kids to do that with the same mindset, value and knowledge from 1975.
I used to send my kids to a Christian school much like the one you described. It reached a point where their spiritual lives may have been being fed, but they weren’t adequately trained to function and compete in the world. The guy who ran that school told me all they wanted to do was teach people to read, write and work. That’s a recipe in 2011 for a career asking “do you want fries with that?” So I yanked my kids out of that school and put them in the new, glossy, high-falutin’, full of bells and whistles local public school, and don’t regret it a bit and have no problem with that particular school, because it’s preparing my kids to live, work and compete in the world.
Thanks for all the thoughtful responses to my tome-length rant. A lot of you make good points. I do want to reply a little to Oracle.
TECHNOLOGY: I am at all opposed to technology. It’s awesome and makes our lives much easier, it has definitely helped grow our economy, and brought so much information (along with a lot of crap and noise) so much more closer and accessible. My objection is that it seems like some school systems think that having a lab full of a bunch of flashy machinery somehow solves all their educational woes–creates motivation to learn, instills discipline in the classrooms or makes teachers better. I don’t. Computers are merely a tool, as were video-players before them, and before them slide projectors, overhead projectors, audiotape players, copiers, mimeographs, blackboards, etc. The lack of the latest computers (if there is a lack in our schools) is not the biggest problem–not by a long shot. Until we motivate and inspire our children to learn, and, more importantly, to think–the tools are just shiny new things that we like to point to as “progressive learning.” I think you probably agree with all that. I also have heard teachers say that computer skills just are not that difficult to pick up quickly (and later in one’s life–Mr. Conservative is Exhibit A. Hey, I was born before man went to the moon and now I’m blogging dude).
PRIVATE SCHOOLS: I agree 100% with your choice to leave the Christian school whose headmaster’s philosophy was “2nd rate but we love Jesus.” That attitude does not square with the Bible, “Whatever you do, do unto God’s glory”, nor 2000 years of Western Civilization. Really knowing God should expand your thinking, as the Cabby turned king exclaims in C.S.Lewis’ “Magician’s Nephew” upon witnessing Aslan sing the universe into being, “I’d ha’ been a better man my whole life If I had known there were things like this.”
I assure you my school is different. (Yes, we have a computer lab, but I much more excited about Latin, logic, rhetoric, calculus, anatomy, physics, theatre and great literature.) The best quote I every heard about education is this–”educating a child is more like lighting a fire, than filling a bucket.” I am afraid that many schools (public and private) are only filling the bucket; they have forgotten all about lighting the fire. Millions and millions of Americans can click a mouse. How many read great books or think great thoughts?
Enough for tonight, dear ones. The hour is late. God bless you every one.