Fixing Education

As a final wrap-up to the recent Anoka-Henepin School District Levy Vote, I wanted to throw out some ideas regarding how we fix education in this country.

Earlier I wrote that the solution was to "Give all children the choice to pick the school they want, then give them the money to go do it." This would be infinitely better than the current system of forcing everyone to pay exorbitant (and ever increasing) prices for a sub-par education, and then forcing them to pay again if they want something better.

(If anyone believes that we are not receiving a sub-par education despite many good and well intentioned teachers I encourage you to read Dumbing Us Down)

Allowing school choice would bring accountability to the schools system, remove the bureaucracy inherent in government run programs and necessarily improve education through healthy school competition. Monopolies cannot do these things, its why we generally believe monopolies are bad and our dislike of them are the reason for the many anti-trust laws (which are bad too, but that is another topic). However, somehow when it comes to education, suddenly we believe that monopolies are great and we go to the polls to support them. Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.

Let me state unequivocally that I do believe in taxpayer support for some education. Education is a public good, the past 100 years has demonstrated that as an undeniable fact, even if it benefits the individual who receives the education more than it benefits the society as a whole. However, tax based support for education should not be provided by the Federal Government, because doing so would violate (as it already does) the entire idea of having a federal vs. national Government. (but that is another topic too!). The question then becomes how does the State (or local) government support education without instigating a monopoly?

Currently education in the US is funded in the way no other system of it's kind is. Firstly not everyone needs funding from the state, yet everyone does, or at least can take advantage of our 'free' education despite the need. This would be like the Government setting up food stamps for everyone, just come in and pick them up, no need to check your income. We don't do that for those who are in need of food, why do it for education? Secondly, there is no reason why the schools need to actually be run by the government. Using the food stamps example; Government does not own the grocery stores to give the food away to the people who cannot afford it. Of course not, instead they give stamps to people that can be used at privately run grocery stores. If the government did propose to take over grocery stores (one may argue food is more necessary than education) in order to provide food to those in need there would be a public outcry if not revolt. Why is it different for education? Why are we not revolting?!!

Now we come to the question of exactly how the government should pay for education, and still allow for school choice. I am not going to propose that I have the perfect answer as there are several good ideas (and having several states workout what is best for them and using each state as a little democratic experiment which other states can look to in order to flush out what works -- is one of the best reasons to keep the Federal Government out of education). There are generally two flavors of how to do this: Tax credits or Vouchers.

Interestingly enough Utah just voted down (62%-38%) what would have been the nations first School Voucher program. I cannot speak to the reasons to the failure, but there are some who believe it was due to an overconfidence of voucher supporters. Likely three other factors were involved as well: 1) It was an off-year election and unions can drive people to the polls better in off years 2) Teachers unions have a built in propaganda machine having the children of voters in their classroom every day. People who are forced into public education will always be propagandized in this way and it needs to be fought against. 3) Some of those in favor of school choice may not like vouchers because, unlike tax credits or deductions, vouchers may come with additional strings attached.

I can sympathise with problem #3. The government does have a right to regulate that which it funds, and there is a need to be vigilant against even further encroachment of the government into our lives. The argument for Tax Credits (or deductions) is that it does not come with as much baggage.

I would argue that either would be better than the current system and any program instituted need to work actively to eliminate all publicly run schools. But despite their disadvantages, a voucher system is probably the best way to provide education to everyone who needs financial help with K-12 education. Vouchers can be used in a way that does not bring down the heavy hand of government upon us. We need to be vigilant, yes, but that is true even now, vouchers would not change that.

I am saddened to see the voucher system fail in Utah, however I believe that it will simply be the first attempt among many in the US and I would hope that we could all agree that we need to work towards the separation of School and State.

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The Votes Are In - We Lost

The first two levy questions passed. Question 2 which was the bulk of the levy expenses passed 56% to 44%. The 3rd question has only 361 more No votes more than Yes votes with almost 50,000 total. Only question 4 failed 49%-51%.

In other words it was not really close, The no votes would have had a much better chance had this not been in an off-year election, but I suspect that was the plan all along. Congrats to the winners, I do not bear any animosity to those who supported the Levy's, I just believe that despite their desire to do what is best for our children, they are actually part of the problem.

Coming soon... Thoughts on christian charity and what part government should play in helping the poor. Also some final thoughts on the failure that is public education.

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Vote!

Today is the day to vote on the levy. If you don't know where your polling place is, you can find out on the Secretary of States Web site.

I'll update you with the results here as soon as I can get them.

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Public Education Reactions

I apologize for my lack of posts, I have been insanely busy with life, I know - I'll try not to let it get in the way...

I wanted to respond to a few things said here especially by ND in my Public Education posts
ND wrote:

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?

These analogies do not hold. Here is why:
Take you bean farmer analogy, (I'll put the whole argument against farm subsidies aside for the moment) Let me improve on it so it does fit the situation. For Example; If the Government in their wisdom decided to give 100% subsidy to bean farmers, one would presume that they must be doing so because they believe that it is to the benefit of everyone to have beans (at least that is the only real rational for a government to spend money). Therefore you could walk down to your local grocery store and pick up a pound of beans a week for free! 'Great', you say 'Beans benefits everyone.' However in Joe's case (whoever Joe may be), he need beans just as much as anyone else, but Joe can not get to the store or maybe he cannot use the free beans because of personal reasons (allergic reaction to the mass produced beans, religious objection to the cow manure that is being used for fertilizer --maybe Joe is Hindu!-- take your pick). So Joe, despite the fact that Joe is paying for the beans through his taxes, needs to go to an outside farmer who is not being subsidized and pay for the beans that he can eat. Joe is saving the government money by not eating the subsidized beans and he is paying for beans that he can eat. Joe is paying twice. If that was the case then 'Yes' Joe should get a voucher for the beans that he is not using in order to pay for the beans that he IS using. Beans are still a good thing and Joe is not asking for anything more than the money that the Government already declared that people Should have for beans. Now ND doesn't eat beans at all, He doesn't even like them despite the fact that the government thinks beans are such a great thing. Even though beans are such a great thing, we probably don't want to shove the beans down his throat (all though our public education comes dangerously close to this in some areas) In this case ND is paying once and not taking advantage of the beans he bought, but he is not paying twice.

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.

That is why I advocated vouchers or tax credits! I did not say that they were on there own. Why shouldn't I get my tax dollars back, at least the portion I would be using if my children were in the school system! This is the money the school district is saving because my children are not in their school. Isn't that worth something at all?

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

Actually the exact opposite would happen as I tried to point out in More on Public School Funding. Because the most expensive education is the public schools giving vouchers to people on order to by a better quality education with less tax dollars would benefit everyone.

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

I believe Jesus said, "Give to Cesar what is Caesar's". I believe that the the State should help with education, but for the most part it is us Christians who should be feeding the hungry, not the government. But that deserves another post entirely, as the idea that the State should usurp those mandates from Christ is one that needs to be purged from Christian thought.

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

as I said in a recent post on More on Public School Funding "My mother, sister, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and two sister-in-laws are all in education. Four of those actually work for the Anoka-Hennepin School District". And I personally went to school in Anoka-Hennepin for all K-12. I know of where I speak and I know that the vast majority of teachers are doing a good job, I never implied otherwise. (or my mother-in-law would not watch my kids any more I am sure!)

...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!

I would venture to say that most private jobs are quite closely scrutinized, at least that has been my experience. It is much easier to remove a bad employee from a company than it is to remove a bad teacher from the Public Education system. There is no such thing a tenure in the private sector.

However, having said that, I must point out that the vote next week is NOT about how well the teachers are doing their jobs and I NEVER said or implied it. It is about the waste in the public school system. It is about the insatiable need for ever increasing amounts of money for an increasingly decadent education. It is about starving the beast and attempting to return some semblance of fairness to those of us who have removed ourselves at a great personal cost from the Public School System.

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More on Public School Funding

As I wrote about earlier my local school district Anoka-Hennepin (AH) is pushing hard to pass a new levy. While no one is doubting (least of all me) that AH will experience real cuts if the levys all fail, What I do question is how the money is spent and if it is right to force everyone to pay exorbitant prices (over $9,000 per student) for a mediocre education - if not actually Dumbing Us Down

Over at Truth V. The Machine (TvM) in Education Funding and My Levy several key points are mentioned:

...where does the money go? When you buy a box of “education”, what are you buying?

Looking at the same document, for 05-06, the district spent 48.5% on Instruction-Salaries. Add in benefits and “All Other”, (not sure what that is), that number goes to 68.3%.

Add in Instructional and Pupil Support Services, that number goes to 76.9%.

Add in School Level Administration, that number goes to 81.5%.

In other words, let’s be clear. When we go to “support the children”, or “invest in property values”, or buy a box of “education,” we’re talking primarily about increasing teacher salaries and benefits

TvM was able to dig up some interesting facts regarding teacher salaries over the past several years:

The Minnesota School Board Association website does have teacher salary averages for the districts. You can find that here. Here’s a summary of the data there for District 11.

School Year	BAMIN	BAMAX	ST	MAMIN	MAMAX	ST	AVG	TP%
1999-2000	$28,854	$44,223	12	$32,036	$51,457	12	$3,001	5.31%
2000-2001	$30,702	$45,992	11	$34,129	$53,515	11	$3,380	5.68%
2001-2002	$31,316	$46,912	11	$34,812	$54,585	11	$2,603	4.22%
2002-2003	$32,000	$47,875	11	$35,600	$56,225	11	$3,648	5.68%
2003-2004	$32,480	$49,300	12	$36,045	$58,800	12	$3,683	5.60%
2004-2005	$33,942	$49,400	11	$37,744	$58,800	11	$3,071	4.42%
2005-2006	$34,621	$50,759	11	$38,499	$60,711	11	$3,804	5.46%
2006-2007	$35,962	$51,774	10	$40,705	$61,925	10	$3,182	4.33%

I believe (but am not sure) that TP is for total package. But, you can see increases every year. Some of those increases came in years when the state was running a deficit. (From 02 to 05, the basic revenue amount stayed put at $4,601.)

That's some decent salary increases., not a dry year in the bunch. This is again the problem with public education. It does not have to be bothered by market forces, you want 5% salary increases every-single-year, well if you have enough lobbying power, you got it! However, this year the State backed off and, while AH is not actually getting less money from the State, it is getting a smaller increase than it has in the past. It looks to me like this levy simply ensures automatic yearly salary increases

Here is what I propose: Give all children the choice to pick the school they want, then give them the money to go do it. I mean any school, public, private, homeschool. Why are we forced by our tax dollars to pay huge amounts of money for a poor education? Let the money follow the student and you will find an amazing revival in education in the this country. Until that time we will continue to pay more and more for a worse and worse education. If we have freedom of choice for school, there would no longer be a need to be worried about the Teacher's Union. If they can help provide a good education then the students will come, if not they will find the solution that works for them. But, again don't expect the Teacher's Unions pushing anything that would help the children, remember they are The Teachers Union, not the Children's Union, even though they love to hide behind the backs of our children.

Vote No on the levy until we have freedom of choice for our schools.

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Paying Twice For Education

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.

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.

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.

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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