Monday, April 02, 2007
For Heaven’s Sake, Shut It Down
Can there be a more egregious case of government ineptitude combined with excuse making that would test the patience of Job?
The Duquesne School District is back in the news. The state board appointed to fix the problem is still crying poor and needs help. This is in a school district that currently spends $21,400 per pupil and is receiving $12 million in state assistance for 750 students. Or said another way, Duquesne gets $16,000 per pupil from the state while Mt. Lebanon gets $2,200 per student from the state. Indeed, Mt. Lebanon will spend a total of $12,500 per student next school year. And, Mt. Lebanon has the best SAT scores in Allegheny County. So much for correlating spending with achievement.
Meanwhile, Duquesne students continue to post some of the lowest scores of any school district in the state and probably in the nation. What’s worse, this outrageous spending and dreadful academic performance pattern is not new; it goes back many years. Indeed, it was so bad the state took over the system to turn it around. However, those efforts have been have been disastrously unproductive.
It is time to face the harsh reality. This school district, with its incredible costs, stunningly bad academic record and its ongoing loss of students has to be shut down. It is unfair to the students and to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania to allow this fiasco to continue.
Give each parent a voucher for $10,000 for each child and let them find an education for their children. The results cannot be any worse than they are now and will undoubtedly improve dramatically for students who really want to learn and have supportive parents. At the same time the total cost will fall to around $8 million per year, $10 million if we include enough to pay off debt. That’s half what is being spent currently.
The time has come to quit talking about fixing this mess and do something useful for a change. For heaven’s sake and for the sake of the kids’ education, shut it down!
The Duquesne School District is back in the news. The state board appointed to fix the problem is still crying poor and needs help. This is in a school district that currently spends $21,400 per pupil and is receiving $12 million in state assistance for 750 students. Or said another way, Duquesne gets $16,000 per pupil from the state while Mt. Lebanon gets $2,200 per student from the state. Indeed, Mt. Lebanon will spend a total of $12,500 per student next school year. And, Mt. Lebanon has the best SAT scores in Allegheny County. So much for correlating spending with achievement.
Meanwhile, Duquesne students continue to post some of the lowest scores of any school district in the state and probably in the nation. What’s worse, this outrageous spending and dreadful academic performance pattern is not new; it goes back many years. Indeed, it was so bad the state took over the system to turn it around. However, those efforts have been have been disastrously unproductive.
It is time to face the harsh reality. This school district, with its incredible costs, stunningly bad academic record and its ongoing loss of students has to be shut down. It is unfair to the students and to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania to allow this fiasco to continue.
Give each parent a voucher for $10,000 for each child and let them find an education for their children. The results cannot be any worse than they are now and will undoubtedly improve dramatically for students who really want to learn and have supportive parents. At the same time the total cost will fall to around $8 million per year, $10 million if we include enough to pay off debt. That’s half what is being spent currently.
The time has come to quit talking about fixing this mess and do something useful for a change. For heaven’s sake and for the sake of the kids’ education, shut it down!
