News here of what one would have to believe (were one to buy the tone of the article) is a bare-bones, all the fat cut out budget for the Arlington County, Virginia school district.
Ok. Lets do a little history major math, shall we?
Total budget: $442 million.
Total number of students: 20,268
Average spending per student: approx $21,8oo per student
Number of states nationwide with an average per-pupil expenditure in excess of Arlington: 0
To paraphrase Eva Peron, "Don't cry for me, Arlington".
There ya go. I hate to harp on the subject but vouchers might be an alternative.
ReplyDeleteJust think about it. If we gave vouchers we'd have schools pop up that catered to the needs of the student, not the bureaucracy. We would have specialty schools. Got a super bright kid who thinks Max Planck is a God? No problem, there's a school for physics eggheads with no dead wood. They zoom along at their own pace. Got a kid who wants to be a carpenter? Again, no problem. There'll be a school for vocational training, THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY TEACH HIM SOMETHING!
Let the state set minimum requirements and inspect the facilities....whatever. But why not give it a try and let a thousand flowers bloom (Mao said that).
Want to really feel bad about that number? Here in lovely NEW JERSEY, my school district, with just over 400 kids, has a budget of $5.5 million this year. We spend $12,768 per student, and we are less than $50 below the statewide median.
ReplyDeleteBut if it makes you feel better, we do have 25 districts that spent more than that per student - half of them dedicated county "special services" districts.
Pithy little post there CW. I love the "Don't cry for me, Arlington"
ReplyDeleteThis is more sad...
ReplyDeleteVirginia spent $31,200 per inmate on state adult corrections in 2005, ranking 24th among the 50 states, and above the national average of $28,550. U.S. Average = $28,550.
I couldn't find any more recent VA numbers, but I am sure it has not gone down since 2005.