Friday, June 01, 2007
Perpetuating a Lie
The editorial writers at “One of America’s Great Newspapers”—as they proclaim themselves to be—apparently cannot resist any opportunity to perpetuate a lie about the Duquesne School district. Again today they rail at the State for not addressing inequities in school funding in an editorial about the District. The problem for their position is that Duquesne schools are currently receiving and have been receiving the bulk of their funding from the State.
For this year, the State is providing $12 million of a $16 million budget. All this for 750 students for a total annual per student expenditures of $21,000—double the state average and $9,000 more than the “rich” district of Mt. Lebanon. Indeed, the State subsidy to Duquesne on a per student basis comes to $16,000, far higher than virtually all districts in the State spend. For many years prior to this school year, the State has provided 70 to 75 percent of school funding. Clearly, a district that cannot afford to pay 25 percent of its education costs should be abolished.
The constant refrain from “One of America’s Great Newspapers” about poor, inequitably treated Duquesne is a load of rot. And they either know this and don’t care or they are so dedicated to a false proposition that the facts are never allowed to intrude on their thinking. In either case, they do a grave disservice to the State, its taxpayers and to readers who don’t follow the stories about Duquesne closely enough to see through the propaganda they so ceaselessly print about a district whose educational performance is so abysmal that it should have been shut down long ago.
For this year, the State is providing $12 million of a $16 million budget. All this for 750 students for a total annual per student expenditures of $21,000—double the state average and $9,000 more than the “rich” district of Mt. Lebanon. Indeed, the State subsidy to Duquesne on a per student basis comes to $16,000, far higher than virtually all districts in the State spend. For many years prior to this school year, the State has provided 70 to 75 percent of school funding. Clearly, a district that cannot afford to pay 25 percent of its education costs should be abolished.
The constant refrain from “One of America’s Great Newspapers” about poor, inequitably treated Duquesne is a load of rot. And they either know this and don’t care or they are so dedicated to a false proposition that the facts are never allowed to intrude on their thinking. In either case, they do a grave disservice to the State, its taxpayers and to readers who don’t follow the stories about Duquesne closely enough to see through the propaganda they so ceaselessly print about a district whose educational performance is so abysmal that it should have been shut down long ago.
