It looks like we as a country spend around $15,400 per student per year in public schools.
Let's think about what would happen if that money went directly to the families, and get creative.
What if a neighborhood wanted to pool their resources and hire a teacher (or teachers) for their kids?
I'm not sure what the "optimal" class size is, but the US average is 20 students. Presuming that few students per teacher is better, then why couldn't a teacher simply open up 10-15 slots to kids and teach them "privately"? That teacher would gross between $154,000 and $231,000 per year. Assuming that there would be some overhead, it's still reasonable to think that a teacher could net over $100,000 per year under this model.
On a ROI note, it seems as though as many as 60% of students in DC schools are "chronically absent". It seems as though that's a shitload of money (at $15,400/student) that is getting wasted in DC.
https://gazette.com/news/wex/dc-mayor-plans-to-reduce-student-absenteeism-but-won-t-punish-parents-per-se/article_9c81f9ef-0888-5962-b0ab-e1cf04a1bb9c.amp.html
I could be wrong, but maybe the current model of public education doesn't quite fit the current population (or at least some of the current population). Maybe, our education system needs to be more open to new ideas, more receptive to what kind of education might actually prepare kids for real life. Maybe more focus on things like the trades, and other careers that don't require a college degree. Maybe a move a way from a bureaucratically, top heavy, focused system to one that's more flexible and accommodating to the 21st century. Maybe a system where expertise in a particular subject is more valued than just pedagogy. Maybe less focus on the teachers sex lives, and sex in general, and more on skills that lead to success in 2024 and beyond.
Just a thought.
4 comments:
As I recall being told after a few incidents of truancy on my part, each unexcused absence results in fewer dollars to the school. Thus, all remaining funds are going toward those who show up. That's the theory, anyway. But I don't think it means quality education.
One of the most important aspects of a quality education is the passion to learn. Those who aren't interested won't do better in better schools. One might suppose it would help public schools if all the miscreants were sequestered in separate facilities where they could waste their lives at a far reduced cost to the taxpayers.
Obviously there is a spectrum of how people learn. Our schools are working with a model that is ancient, and not performing well. I think that the unwillingness of the education cabal to open themselves up to anything but pouring more and more money down the same old toilet, tells us a lot about what their priorities really are.
I think that freedom and choice are the two things we are sorely lacking in our education system, and the pathetic clinging to the past model of education is going to have a massive negative impact going forward. When we have multiple large districts where 50-80% of students can't read or math a grade level, there is a problem. I submit that the problem could be the top down, overstaffed, union controlled, education establishment that is the problem. There is an increasing amount of bad education going on, with zero new ideas about how to fix it. Yes, parents are part of the problem. Hence my first point about letting the $$$$$ go with the parents. The parents who want the crappy left wing, LGBTQXYZPDQ+ indoctrination can get that. The parents who want their children prepared for their future can get that.
I agree not all kids learn in the same way and the current model deals with pretty much just one. However, I don't think that's the most major problem in public schools. Where kids are failing miserably, I believe the problem is the kids themselves and the fact they don't have a proper upbringing. While teacher unions are too often worthless, I think that in schools where the words of the worst attend are suffering from teachers with PTSD to a great extent. They need their incomes, but don't want to see the same miscreants year after year and be expected to convince them of the importance of learning when those miscreants have no intention of even trying. I don't think it's all that hard to follow a lesson plan. Lazy teachers can do it easily and willing kids will learn.
The real tragedy in my mind is the kids who ARE willing being trapped in environments where way too many are uncontrolled and uncontrollable making the very act of attending personally risky for kids who want an education. My oldest daughter has been teaching math in a Lake County, IL high school for about twenty years. It's a low income area and she deals with a lot of asshole kids. Fortunately, she seems to be well regarded by most of the kids she's had to teach, with many keeping in touch with her several years after they've finished school. She speaks glowingly of those kids with the passion for learning and as well for those who seemed to have developed it enough during their time with her to improve their lot. She's also lamented the situations in which kids don't seem to care and have parents which don't, either. Fights are very common though her school isn't among the worst of the worst. She hates the politics of education and despite her fondness for so many students...as well as for some fellow teachers...she's looking forward to retirement because of all the crap.
There's so much which is wrong with the public school system it's not easy to list it all. But it starts with parents, I believe. With better parents, there would be fewer assholes in the school system, resulting in fewer kids getting a pass they don't deserve.
At this point it should be obvious that the one size fits all, old fashioned, model of education needs significant overhaul. It's also obvious that the current model of how we find, train, and employ teachers is out of date as well. We have overwhelming and increasing amounts of data that tells us that students are not performing to any sort of acceptable minimum standard, while simultaneously seeing schools eliminate their gifted programs. More and more schools are focusing on the bottom 20% of students which harms the other 80%. (Harm is immoral)
As I said, parents clearly are playing a role in this, there's no way to have the absence rates we see in DC without a massive parent failure. But, we as a country need the next generation to be educated to some level. So how do we change school to make it more engaging for those on the margins? Do we adopt the German model where there is a two track system? That way you prepare kids who aren't served well by college for jobs in industries where they can make good money?
I'll reiterate that I think that we need to lower the barriers to teaching. If you've got a 50 year old who's been successful in business who wants to teach a subject that he is well versed in, let's open that door as wide as possible. Stop obsessing over finding people who's education revolves around learning to teach, and instead on finding people who are very knowledgeable in the subject matter.
Personally, I think that decoupling the tax money from the schools is the answer. It'll force existing schools to do better, and maybe to learn how to operate leaner. It'll give parents and teachers more freedom to experiment. I honestly think that the model I mentioned in the post (neighborhood hiring a teacher/teacher teaching 10-15 students) makes a huge amount of sense for elementary aged kids. I can also see some sort of arrangement for older kids where you combine some of these "pods" and bring in teachers for different subjects on a rotation. (Mon-math, Tue-English, Wed-science, Thu-Social Studies, Fri-life skills)
It's amazing that in a culture known for innovation and "progress" it's shocking that the NEA and DOE have the schools in such a stranglehold that innovation is greeted with hostility unless it comes from within.
Personally, I think that most kids realize what a waste of time all of the sex/gender/DEI education is and probably get bored quickly and tune out.
Out with the old, in with something innovative.
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