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Town Hall. Instead of building a new building, rent office space somewhere else that was privately built. In very small towns I've seen that done, but that mak

Town Hall. Instead of building a new building, rent office space somewhere else that was privately built. In very small towns I've seen that done, but that makes less sense for medium to larger towns and cities for a variety of reasons. taxpayers pay more per pupil for public school than they do for private school, so send the kids to private school and close the public school. A large part of that is because private schools don't have to admit (or can expel) students with special needs and behavioral problems. Force the private schools to have to deal with those students, and chances are those costs will increase.

deleted 14y ago
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larrys 14y ago
"because private schools don't have to" Exactly. I always find it interesting (and this isn't a critique of the parent) just an observation that when people use an example such as "In <insert country> <insert thing> costs <insert percentage> less than in the US therefore...". This is always tossed around with healthcare for example.) Things are never equal and can't be. It's like comparing heating costs in San Francisco vs. Montana w/o considering the temperature. Details matter and rarely in a casual observation of the on the surface facts can you account for why something might be possible in one circumstance but not another. Private school teachers, at least in one case that I am familiar with, got paid less than the public school teachers in the same district. They were of a younger age group and were only doing it for a short period of time before moving on to bigger things. Also the fact that they had much smaller classes and a different student population made the job less stressful. And a host of other factors that would be difficult if not impossible to scale to a public environment.
yummyfajitas 14y ago
Force the private schools to have to deal with those students, and chances are those costs will increase. It would also prevent private schools from specializing, which is hardly a good thing. A better way would simply be to pay a different price for different children - i.e., $7k for a normal child, $13k for juvenile delinquents, $16k for retards, etc. Different schools (both public and private) could specialize and cater to different varieties of children. One size fits all is generally a dumb idea.
- ktizo 14y ago
  Go look at the education system and standards in Finland, then see if you still hold that view. Also, your use of the word retard as an epithet in this context probably means that your views on education policy should be treated with the utmost suspicion, at best.
  - yummyfajitas 14y ago
    It is my general view that it's crazy to spend 2-3x as much as normal on a kid who will never achieve anything beyond bagger at Walmart. How clever, you caught me. If you want to apply the ad-hominem fallacy on this basis to dismiss an unrelated point, be my guest.
    - ktizo 14y ago
      It is my general view that it's crazy to spend 2-3x as much as normal on a kid who will never achieve anything beyond bagger at Walmart. So how do you know in advance that a given kid will never achieve anything?
    - anthonyb 14y ago
      Early education and intervention saves a ton of money in the long term.
      - barry-cotter 14y ago
        (Citation needed) To be slightly less flip at some point you reach the point of duminishing returns where the money could do more good elsewhere. Also, the overwhelming majority of education interventions don't scale.
        seanmcdirmid 14y ago
        I think the parent made a very obvious point. Correctional facilities (i.e. prisons) are much more expensive than decent public education up front; and this primarily applies to troubled students.

deleted 14y ago

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larrys 14y ago

"because private schools don't have to" Exactly. I always find it interesting (and this isn't a critique of the parent) just an observation that when people use an example such as "In <insert country> <insert thing> costs <insert percentage> less than in the US therefore...". This is always tossed around with healthcare for example.) Things are never equal and can't be. It's like comparing heating costs in San Francisco vs. Montana w/o considering the temperature. Details matter and rarely in a casual observation of the on the surface facts can you account for why something might be possible in one circumstance but not another. Private school teachers, at least in one case that I am familiar with, got paid less than the public school teachers in the same district. They were of a younger age group and were only doing it for a short period of time before moving on to bigger things. Also the fact that they had much smaller classes and a different student population made the job less stressful. And a host of other factors that would be difficult if not impossible to scale to a public environment.

yummyfajitas 14y ago

Force the private schools to have to deal with those students, and chances are those costs will increase. It would also prevent private schools from specializing, which is hardly a good thing. A better way would simply be to pay a different price for different children - i.e., $7k for a normal child, $13k for juvenile delinquents, $16k for retards, etc. Different schools (both public and private) could specialize and cater to different varieties of children. One size fits all is generally a dumb idea.

ktizo 14y ago
Go look at the education system and standards in Finland, then see if you still hold that view. Also, your use of the word retard as an epithet in this context probably means that your views on education policy should be treated with the utmost suspicion, at best.
- yummyfajitas 14y ago
  It is my general view that it's crazy to spend 2-3x as much as normal on a kid who will never achieve anything beyond bagger at Walmart. How clever, you caught me. If you want to apply the ad-hominem fallacy on this basis to dismiss an unrelated point, be my guest.
  - ktizo 14y ago
    It is my general view that it's crazy to spend 2-3x as much as normal on a kid who will never achieve anything beyond bagger at Walmart. So how do you know in advance that a given kid will never achieve anything?
  - anthonyb 14y ago
    Early education and intervention saves a ton of money in the long term.
    - barry-cotter 14y ago
      (Citation needed) To be slightly less flip at some point you reach the point of duminishing returns where the money could do more good elsewhere. Also, the overwhelming majority of education interventions don't scale.
      - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
        I think the parent made a very obvious point. Correctional facilities (i.e. prisons) are much more expensive than decent public education up front; and this primarily applies to troubled students.