[Rhodes22-list] Slim's issues - Cost of Education

Steve Alm salm at mn.rr.com
Tue Oct 5 17:50:27 EDT 2004


Russ,
It's hard to imagine a school system as a pork trough, but it sounds like a
real mess in NJ.  14K is way over the top.  That's more in line with many
private schools.  Obviously there needs to be some adjustments made in NJ
but I don't think you throw the baby out with the bathwater.  In Minnesota,
about half our property taxes go to the schools.  Our former gov. Jesse
Ventura referred to that as the black hole of spending.  It's hardly a
"free" education.  But as Steve Little likes to say, freedom is never free.
But what's more important than the bottom line is exactly what each dollar
goes for.  My complaint is that fewer and fewer dollars go to general ed and
more and more goes to special ed, transportation, etc.  And meals.  Why
should the schools have to pay to feed everyone?  In many schools it's
breakfast and lunch.  That money comes from general ed.

Slim

On 10/5/04 4:09 PM, "Russell Miller" <re.miller at att.net> wrote:

> Money spent does not yiels a better education  rather more $$ is like piring
> money down a rat hole ir is simple GIGO - Garbage in, Garbage out.  Witness
> the Prk trough capital of the US - New Jersey.  We have the highest paid
> staff, the most costly per student in all 50 but low achievement.  The NJEA
> runs the school system, we have 621 separate schooldistricts with all the
> attendant administrative costs with it - 621 superintendents, etc.  Some
> districts even have no schools!! Yes, no schools.  It is not uncommon for
> the per student costs to top $10000.  I personally know of some greater than
> $12000 and one where it is $14410!!!  So I salute Fr. Tribour-
> 
> Russ--- Original Message -----
> From: "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 12:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Slim's issues
> 
> 
>> To All,
>> 
>> This discussion about education reminds me of a
>> lecture I listened to a few years ago.  Both of my
>> boys attended all-boys Catholic high schools.  My
>> oldest, Spencer, attended Little Rock Boys Catholic
>> High which was run by Father Tribou for over forty
>> years.  The non-Catholic parents (his mother and I for
>> example) had to attend a special orientation.  Father
>> Tribou's lecture to the parents was so memorable I can
>> almost quote it verbatum.  It went something like
>> this:
>> 
>> "Welcome.  Most of you are familiar with our school or
>> you wouldn't be sending your child here but in case
>> you're not, here's how we work.  This is a meat and
>> potatoes school - no spices, no dessert, nothing
>> fancy.  Four years of science, english, and math -
>> meat and potatoes.  Our textbooks are old, when they
>> have completely fallen apart we'll change them.  It's
>> been our experience that the boys have enough trouble
>> learning the basics without worrying about what
>> changed in the last five years.  We don't have metal
>> detectors like some of the public schools.  If guns
>> and knives became a problem, metal detectors would be
>> of no value anyway because all the lead in your boy's
>> ass would constantly set them off anyway.  Now I'm
>> sure some of you have boys with learning disabilities.
>>  Frankly we never heard of ADD and some of these other
>> "challenges" until recently and haven't done anything
>> to address these issues.  If your boy has a handicap,
>> chances are he'll have to deal with it for life so
>> he'll just have to learn to overcome it here.  Study
>> harder or accept lower grades, we have no intention in
>> changing our methods that have worked so well for us
>> for over a hundred years.  I'm sure a lot of you have
>> kept up with all the new science and theories
>> associated with education, we haven't.  If you insist
>> on sharing them with us, Father David will refund your
>> money as you leave. ... One last thing, no doubt your
>> son will come home and say things about his teachers.
>> Ignore them and we'll ignore all the things your son
>> tells us about you."
>> 
>> Father Tribou had cancer his last several years but
>> wanted to live long enough to see the Class of 2000,
>> Spencer's class, graduate.  He died in 2001.  The
>> public school system in most parts of the country
>> could use some of his wisdom.
>> 
>> Brad Haslett
>> "CoraShen"
>> 
>> 
>> --- R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
>> 
>>> Slim,
>>> You have to understand where Ed is coming from. In
>>> SC, the SAT test scores
>>> are the worst in the nation and have been for ever.
>>> 1/2 of all 9th grade
>>> students today, will not graduate from high school.
>>> Now, the state is throwing
>>> millions of dollars into constructing new schools
>>> and getting rid of the
>>> portable classrooms. They are also at the same time
>>> making the requirements  tougher
>>> on the teachers. Property taxes have gone up some
>>> since I moved here,  but
>>> they are still ridiculously low compared to taxes in
>>> Wisconsin. About 1/5th  of
>>> what I would pay in WS for the same house.
>>> Since all this money has been thrown at education
>>> (the past four years)
>>> everybody is expecting the test scores to come up
>>> proportionally with the  level
>>> of spending. I'm afraid it's going to take a few
>>> generations to do  that.
>>> 
>>> Rummy
>>> __________________________________________________
>>> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
>>> www.rhodes22.org/list
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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