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You can only have shitty, dilapidated, extraordinarily expensive public schools for so long before the gravy train ends and parents rebel. In Boston we pay some

You can only have shitty, dilapidated, extraordinarily expensive public schools for so long before the gravy train ends and parents rebel. In Boston we pay some of the highest per-pupil spending in the entire country (~$25k) and they are contemplating putting the entire system under state control https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/state-to-recommend-declaring-boston-public-schools-an-underperforming-district/2755752/?amp https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/state-to-recommend-decl... It’s completely insane how “jUsT GiVe ThE TeAcHeRs MoRe MoNeY!” is argued in good faith when what we have is so absurdly fucked and ruinous.

zach_garwood 4y ago
To pick a nit here, when most people say "Give teachers more money," they mean exactly and precisely that, giving a higher salary to the boots on the ground in the classroom. What ends up happening though is that more money goes to the school system, and some paltry amount may trickle down to the teacher, but most if it get's eaten up by principals, superintendents, and an army of other administrators, who do not actually improve outcomes. It's my firm belief that most of the issues with our educational system would be rectified overnight if every school district halved their administration.
- lapcat 4y ago
  One of the points of the article is that the schools are not just trying to deliver an education, they're also trying to deliver social services to kids. Why is that? Well, as a society we've decided that adults are generally unworthy of a social safety net, yet we still consider kids to be "innocent", and so instead of helping the parents of the kids, we insist on providing social services directly to the kids in school, bypassing the parents. This adds a lot of cost and layers of administration. And of course poorer kids are more in need of social services, so the poorer schools are often more expensive to run, even factoring in teacher salaries. You can say the schools are "failing", but they're also being asked to do too much.
lupire 4y ago
If all the pubic student went private (and let's not forget the special ed students), are there private schools available to serve them? Private schools have the luxury of cherry-picking the easiest students.
- seibelj 4y ago
  I would rather let those with the most potential have the best possible opportunities than lower everyone’s standards for special ed students. We can make vocational schools for those that can’t succeed academically, but for those that can we should provide them the best. I’d rather boost up the best than bring everyone down.

zach_garwood 4y ago

To pick a nit here, when most people say "Give teachers more money," they mean exactly and precisely that, giving a higher salary to the boots on the ground in the classroom. What ends up happening though is that more money goes to the school system, and some paltry amount may trickle down to the teacher, but most if it get's eaten up by principals, superintendents, and an army of other administrators, who do not actually improve outcomes. It's my firm belief that most of the issues with our educational system would be rectified overnight if every school district halved their administration.

lapcat 4y ago
One of the points of the article is that the schools are not just trying to deliver an education, they're also trying to deliver social services to kids. Why is that? Well, as a society we've decided that adults are generally unworthy of a social safety net, yet we still consider kids to be "innocent", and so instead of helping the parents of the kids, we insist on providing social services directly to the kids in school, bypassing the parents. This adds a lot of cost and layers of administration. And of course poorer kids are more in need of social services, so the poorer schools are often more expensive to run, even factoring in teacher salaries. You can say the schools are "failing", but they're also being asked to do too much.

lupire 4y ago

If all the pubic student went private (and let's not forget the special ed students), are there private schools available to serve them? Private schools have the luxury of cherry-picking the easiest students.

seibelj 4y ago
I would rather let those with the most potential have the best possible opportunities than lower everyone’s standards for special ed students. We can make vocational schools for those that can’t succeed academically, but for those that can we should provide them the best. I’d rather boost up the best than bring everyone down.