Hello,
this is certainly an interesting discussion. For what its worth, I considered teaching. I manage the finances for a Special Ed department (in excess of 100 million dollars) in a large urban public school. Suffice to say, I have also learned alot about Special Education (which is usually a nebulous issue to most) in the process, as well as alot about public school finances and issues.
There is no doubt that while cost per students has risen, returns to educational achievement have not. This is an issue as complex and interwoven as the economy itself and a very important one to me.
There are good and bad schools within our district, a myriad of opportunities for interesting learning, as well as those for malfeasance. I can tell you about kids getting a great hands on science curriculum or special ed services because of the scale of resources we have, and I can tell you about gang violence, beaurocracy, crack addicted parents, kids succeeding despite the odds, wonderful leaders and educators, and terrible ones.
Special education in large districts, transportation costs, capital and infrastructure, and rising benefit costs are the main causes of budget difficulties. Many of these in special ed are rooted in legalities such as inclusion (which in my opinion is a good idea, but a failed one). The litigious nature of society also increases the cost of education when the district loses in court. Kids are then sent to expensive schools at a cost far exceeding that of education in district. Sometimes this is beneficial for the child, sometimes not needed.
I have seen alot of waste as well, and easily trimmed millions of dollars from the Spec Ed budget with very little impact on the qualitative aspect of education. It takes ingenuity and balls to do this in a status quo environment such as this.
Charter schools and vouchers are one solution, but they are not a be all end all. Their is nepotism and misuse of funds in this as well, all while diverting resources (now un-reimbursed) to these institutions away from public ed. Alot of times this leaves public schools with special needs populations only while normal ed kids go to the private schools. This exacerbates costs. I can tell you about charter schools closing because they were counting kids that were fry cooks at mcdonalds as “career training”
The socio-economic issues in an urban environment also stimulate the debate as to who knows best, the parents or the educators. Alot of parents are very uneducated and drug addicted and not fit for deciding things for a child. And I could say the opposite elsewhere, but the attitude towards education in this country is alot different than when immigrants initially came here en masse with a strong sense of the value in education.
I think its a bold initiative for LA and I hope it succeeds with the intended result but we cant look at every option with rose tinted glasses. I think alot of charter schools that follow a teach for america/ Kipp model are able to achieve better results because of the increased flexibility and lack of the same cost drivers I have previously mentioned.
Pay for performance has its merits and drawbacks, as does standardized testing. I am of the opinion that critical thinking skills are sorely lacking in most public school curriculum however. I think public/private/magnet and charter schools can all operate together and ideally cooperate…though the funding would be a highly contentious arena.
I could go on and on but I think thats enough for now.