Note: from here on out (until I change my mind… again), all Open Posts will include “O.P.” in the subject line.
I’ve blogged on the “65¢ Solution” before, but as it’s gaining momentum, I thought it about time to touch base with the idea again. (But do CLICK through that link above to this one, too, ‘K?)
Following up, even a cursory read reveals the typical problem with good ideas: feature bloat, leading to an invocation of the
“Nationally, 61.5 percent of education operational budgets reach the classrooms. Why make a fuss about 3.5 percent? Because it amounts to $13 billion. Only four states (Utah, Tennessee, New York, Maine) spend at least 65 percent of their budgets in classrooms. Fifteen states spend less than 60 percent. The worst jurisdiction — Washington, D.C., of course — spends less than 50 percent.”_1_
Of course, as per my assertions here and elsewhere , I believe that a large part of the wasted dollars in public education are monies spent on school administrators. An optimistic guesstimate would be that perhaps 1 out of 1,000 public school administrators is not an absolute idiot. Most are idiots and actively harmful to the process of teaching/learning.
“… according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the category of support services outside the classroom includes crucial student services such as librarians, school nurses and transportation.”
So while, yes, I do believe the 65% Solution is a good idea on paper, the way it’s working out is just more of the same old educaca: shuffle non-essential crap into the “classroom instruction” definition so that administrators can claim to be meeting a goal of spending a certain percentage of their funding on classroom instruction. (Sports? Classroom instruction?!?!?! Gimme a break!)
Linked at Cao’s Blog, Adam’s Blog, Don Surber, Stop The ACLU, Stuck on Stupid, Diane’s Stuff, MacStansbury, TMH’s Bacon Bits, Euphoric Reality, Peakah’s Pub, and Basil’s Blog.