No Excuses -- Step Five: School Choice
I have identified 5 steps Utah should take to improve K-12 education.
STEP 5: School Choice. Like most parents and taxpayers, my wife and I love and appreciate the public schools. Our plans are that all our children will attend and graduate from the public schools. But that's not the case for every family and every child.
Some families determine that their children could do better in a private school, but they can't afford that option. The State should provide some assistance to low-income families, while ensuring that the amount of assistance is less than the cost the State would have spent to educate those students in the public system. In other words, the families get an option and the State actually saves money that can be spent on the other students that remain in the public system. To understand how some money can follow a student out of the system and still mean more money for those in the system, it is necessary to understand variable costs.
I've previously written about school choice here and here.
STEP 5: School Choice. Like most parents and taxpayers, my wife and I love and appreciate the public schools. Our plans are that all our children will attend and graduate from the public schools. But that's not the case for every family and every child.
Some families determine that their children could do better in a private school, but they can't afford that option. The State should provide some assistance to low-income families, while ensuring that the amount of assistance is less than the cost the State would have spent to educate those students in the public system. In other words, the families get an option and the State actually saves money that can be spent on the other students that remain in the public system. To understand how some money can follow a student out of the system and still mean more money for those in the system, it is necessary to understand variable costs.
I've previously written about school choice here and here.
posted by steve u. at 11/03/2005
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6 Comments:
I went to public schools. I think they are an asset to our citizens. I have no quarall with parents who do home education provided tests show the children are really being taught the basics. The question of diverting money to low income families so that they can send their children to private schools is vexing. What is "low Income"? Does this divert tax dollars from our public schools? Would it affect teacher pay?
Amen Cal, Home schooling isn't for everyone and those that do, must have some standards to make sure the students are achieving.
Cal,
By low income, I mean those who would qualify for the free and reduced lunch program.
Your next question -- diverting tax dollars -- requires a discussion of variable costs; yes, it would divert tax dollars, but it would divert even more expenditures (by freeing the system from the variable cost burden of educating the students opting out).
It would not affect teacher pay negatively.
I have two issues that keep me from supporting the general concept of TTCs. They are accountability and economies of scale. If a bill were drafted appropriately,however, both could be taken care of.
In terms of accountability, I can’t even imagine giving taxpayer money to a use that we can not monitor. In a state where fraud is rampant and MLM schemes seem to rule the day, the taxpayers of Utah will be taken for quite a ride. The state can keep track of the peoples money by having the school accepting the taxpayer resources participate in the UPASS accountability system. If we could make sure the students using TTCs perform within reasonable ranges, you would have my support.
Secondly, people who claim that TTCs will actually save the state money don’t understand the way we do things here in the minivan state. With the lowest per pupil spending in the industrialized world, we have become experts in economies of scale. Any TTC bill should take special care NOT to disrupt this fragile component of Utah public education. If you take 10 students out of an elementary school, you don’t save 10 WPU’s worth of expenses. It costs the same to drive to Disneyland with eight of our kids as it does with only seven. Similarly, the school will have the same heating bill, same teacher expense etc…I know that over time, boundaries can be redrawn and schools can be closed but what do they do in the meantime? If the student taking the TTC took half the WPU and the other half stayed at the school to reduce class size and tutor struggling students, you could buffer the school from loss and garner my support.
I have two issues that keep me from supporting the general concept of TTCs. They are accountability and economies of scale. If a bill were drafted appropriately,however, both could be taken care of.
In terms of accountability, I can’t even imagine giving taxpayer money to a use that we can not monitor. In a state where fraud is rampant and MLM schemes seem to rule the day, the taxpayers of Utah will be taken for quite a ride. The state can keep track of the peoples money by having the school accepting the taxpayer resources participate in the UPASS accountability system. If we could make sure the students using TTCs perform within reasonable ranges, you would have my support.
Secondly, people who claim that TTCs will actually save the state money don’t understand the way we do things here in the minivan state. With the lowest per pupil spending in the industrialized world, we have become experts in economies of scale. Any TTC bill should take special care NOT to disrupt this fragile component of Utah public education. If you take 10 students out of an elementary school, you don’t save 10 WPU’s worth of expenses. It costs the same to drive to Disneyland with eight of our kids as it does with only seven. Similarly, the school will have the same heating bill, same teacher expense etc…I know that over time, boundaries can be redrawn and schools can be closed but what do they do in the meantime? If the student taking the TTC took half the WPU and the other half stayed at the school to reduce class size and tutor struggling students, you could buffer the school from loss and garner my support.
please read my Article about school choice in Newwest.net
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/city/article/4285/C104/L104
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