My local School District Anoka-Hennepin (AH) is looking to pass another levy this year. I find it very sneaky of them to put this in on an off year election. It virtually guarantees passage of the levy because they have a built in get-out-the-vote effort in their schools and their supporters are the only ones who will actually make it to the polls. The Schools are all pushing their agendas with some scare tactics. According to The Anoka Hennepin Web Site if all 4 levy referendums fail:
... reductions [will] include closing up to six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school, which would change all attendance area boundaries in the district. Also on the list is elimination of 507 regular education teachers, which would increase class size by six to 12 students, depending on the grade and school. Another 239 positions would be cut including administrators, special education staff, instructional coaches not funded by grants, technology support teachers, counselors, secretaries, paraprofessionals and custodians.According to the National Center for Education Statistics (IES) That amounts to the elimination of approximitely 22% of schools and Teachers but only 10% of the administrative staff while the total cut amounts to only 16% of their funding if the levies fail. Truth v. The Machine puts it this way:
It’s hard for the average joe like me to understand why near apocalyptic results would have to occur if 16% of funding was lost. If my salary was cut by 16%, I’d sure feel it, but I wouldn’t be living under a bridge the next day.These are curious questions, that to my knowledge have not been answered. Also the levy that is expiring is $25-$26 million and the new levy totals $42.3 million.
Another question I have is how the increase in property values since 2002 is accounted for, plus the increase in new homes built since then.
But having said that I do have to mention that AH is one of the better and fiscally conservative Public School districts in the State. The problem is that it is public and therefore cannot possibly educate children on any semblance of a budget. According to IES it costs AH $9,685 to educate each child in the district per year while Minnesota Public schools average is aprox $14,000. I doubt you could find a private school in the country that costs that much. The school district will say you can't compare Public and Private Schools because the following reasons (my responses in red)
- The public school district provides and subsidizes busing and some education services for private schools. - Then charge the students for busing. If they want to drive their kids to school or they walk then they don't need to pay the fee. AH pays 12% of its resources on Busing, food, counseling, and Health. These services could almost be eliminated tomorrow and the District would no longer have a budget problem. They are not functions of education - especially 'counseling'
- The state labor laws do not require private schools to have unionized employee groups so those employees cannot strike. - This is a problem that does need to be eliminated. There should be no unions in government, And teachers should not be allowed to strike. But don't expect the Teacher's Union to lobby the legislature to eliminate their own union. It's a self perpetuating problem and the Teacher's union loves it.
- Private schools do not need to meet many of the state and federal mandates public schools must meet. - This is another self perpetuating problem. The Teacher's Union lobby the state (they have the largest lobby in Minnesota) and federal government to put all these mandates in place and then complain that they need to raise taxes because they are forced to pay for the mandates.
- Private schools can select the students they take. Students who are disruptive or who have learning or physical disabilities all require more staff and facilities than do a selective group of students. The public schools must take all children who come to them - free public education is a constitutional and civil right determined by federal legislation and upheld by the Supreme Court. Private schools can exclude those students who take more effort or more money to educate. - This is another problem that the Teacher's Union will not help to alleviate. Free Public education should be a privilege, not a right. If that privilege is abused by disruptive behavior then those students should be expelled and not allowed to lower every one's education. But the Teachers Unions do the exact opposite they will always lobby on behalf of any and every policy that will increase the cost of education, and then complain about why they are 'forced' to pay so much for education
How much will the new levy cost me? According to their tax estimator if all levies pass I'll pay approx $462 more a year in property taxes on a bill that is already over $3,500. Most of which already goes to the the AH School district. It would be one thing if I actually had children in the School District, which I do not. One could make the argument that everyone benefits from public education and even people without school age children need to help support the education of those who are. It's a little weak argument I would suggest, because those who benefit the most are the people actually receiving the education, but it's an argument you could make.
However, I do have children of school age that are not using the Public Schools. According to what AH pays per student this should save the District over $9,000 per year for each of my children. I have 3 of school age - a savings of over $29,000 a year!. Do I get a cut of that $27,000 to help educate my children? Of course not. I don't get one red cent. Do I get a discount on my property taxes that help to fund the Public Education system that my children are not using? Of course not. Will the Teacher's Union or AH School District lobby the legislature to provide vouchers to students not using the Public Education system? No! They lobby for the exact opposite.
The Bottom line is that I pay for 100% of my own children's education, I have no endowments, no deep pocket religious or private organization contributing funds. I even pay to be a member of the Home School Legal Defence Association to legally protect myself from interference by the State or School District. Now once I have paid for my children's education, and protection from the Schools invading my own education of my children I am now asked to pay for the education of everyone else's education too. This is like being taken out back an mugged. Its appalling that the district comes to me and asks me to pay for my children's education TWICE. And among the myriad of reasons to vote against the levy, making me pay twice guarantees that I will vote no on the Anoka-Hennepin School District Levy this year.
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5 comments:
You have some very insightful comments and conclusions in your blog however you seem to have a great deal of anger towards the teacher's union. It is not as black and white as you see it. Teachers are placed in a very risky position on a daily basis, I would like to think the union balances out the decision making done within the schools much the same was the democrats and republicans do. Some other comments you made like getting disruptive students expelled are also interesting. Who decides who is disruptive and who is not? That is not a black and white issue either. It would seem that you do not recognize the existence of learning disabilities, emotional issues or the fact that poverty and home live situation are not always under the control of these kids. The teachers spend more waking hours molding the lives of my kids, I would like to think that they should be protected by the union and monitored by the community. The system is flawed I agree and I would even go as far as saying, very flawed but it is not wise to throw it out and depend on private schools to educate our youth. I think they do that in Iran if I am not mistaken.
Know much about the state of education in states like Arizona? Read up on those stats. If you want non-union teachers, give that a try.
By the way, education serves more than the individual...it serves society as a whole. So we kick out the kids you call "disruptive." Where do they go tomorrow? Next year? Ten years from now?
Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous.
I am really, really busy as of late, but I wanted to respond briefly to the comments here, to which I plan on expanding on next week in more detail with a new post on the subject...
1) If I don't like the teachers union it is only because they work to the detriment of the schools and children's education and my pocket book. They work quite well for the benefit of teacher's pocket books and not much else. I bear no animosity towards them other than that. - I did not imply teachers (most anyway) do not work hard, yet many work just as hard if not harder in the public sector for less and don't need protection from a union. Good teachers don't need a union, bad ones do.
2) The School/District would make the decision on who is disruptive and needs expulsion, but not without repercussions from the parents if the School/District has crossed the line. People with learning disabilities should have to pay more if they require more service. The public school system should not be a 'catch all'. It should be something that helps lift the majority of students. That will be enough to 'help society as a whole' if that is what we are trying to do.
3) Just because there are shades of grey doesn't mean you can't see black on one side and white on the other - Someone needs to be able to make judgement calls. It's called 'Thinking' and I should hope our teachers could do that.
4) Arizona? I haven't looked into that - I'll try, but if you could point to the stats you are referring to, that would help.
1. I am confused by your logic that you seem to believe to have put forward so clearly. Are we to believe that we should be refunded from the government for every service that we do not use that taxes go toward? For example, I do not eat beans. Then I believe that all government tax revenue allocated to farmers to subsidize their crops should be refunded to me. I don't use the Anoka County parks, so then I"m to believe that my tax dollars paying for that or for the 35W bridge reconstruction should be refunded to me if I choose to not use those services? Private schools are a great option for those that can afford them, but what about the family that can't? Are they just on their own? Because you choose to home-school your children does not mean that you get your tax dollars back. Don't you realize that would increase the taxes even more on those who can't afford to send their children to private school or teach their kids at home? You are making a conscious choice to not use public education. I'm also disappointed to see that you are a Christian. What does Jesus say about feeding the hungry, helping the weak and giving clothes to the poor? Or being "in the world" not "of it"? Why would you choose to remove funds from the teachers that are doing a good job, and more importantly with a greater purpose of bringing life to the poor, hungry and weak students? I believe that I am called to be a teacher to the "least of these" and you just want your money back. It seems your ranting is based more on selfish ambition than concern for others.
2. I'm sorry you have it out for public education. Obviously you've had some bad experiences and believe that all educators and school systems are evil...Maybe all of the Anoka-Hennepin voters can also come to your workplace and vote on how well you're doing your job? Even though they may have no idea what you do or how well you may do it, let's just come and stereotype what we think you do and how poorly you do it based on some experiences we've had 50 years ago. Yes, there may be bad teachers, but there are also bad video rental guys, check out clerks, and accountants. That doesn't mean that boycotting Blockbuster, Cub and taxes will solve the problem. If you want to help change the educational system run for school board or join a committee--don't vote to take away the money that is needed to survive!
My response to ND can be found at Public Education Reactions
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