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The correct way to address this is to not have school funding be based on how expensive the nearby houses are.
by elil17 7mo ago
The correct way to address this is to not have school funding be based on how expensive the nearby houses are.
- R_D_Olivaw 7mo agoWhat?! An honest solution that Doesn't impede on our privacy rights. Straight to jail with you.
- Aurornis 7mo agoCan’t speak for Chicago, but in my city the schools get similar funds on a per-student basis yet still have very large differences in academics from school to school. The reason parents try to get into different schools isn’t to chase funding, it’s to get into the one with the best outcomes. A lot of that comes from parental involvement and having a critical mass of engaged students and parents, not the dollar amount spent on each student.
- triceratops 7mo agoThen "school district fraud" shouldn't be a problem. If a parent is willing to committing a crime to get their kid into a good school, they're heavily engaged and involved.
- Aurornis 7mo agoSchools have limited capacity. If they fill up with students from far away, nearby students who have a real right to be there get pushed out. This isn’t a topic where you can think in terms of a single child only.
- triceratops 7mo agoSchool bodies expand and contract over time as the demographic makeup of a district and school changes. "Limited capacity" isn't strictly true.
- Aurornis 7mo agoSchool sizes do change over long time horizons as demographics grow. This is true. But school buildings have limited capacity and teacher:student ratios should be maintained. These cannot be changed instantly. Planning happens according to people actually living there, so if a lot of people are circumventing the rules and cheating their way in it breaks the system.
- triceratops 7mo ago> School sizes do change over long time horizons Not even very long horizons. For example, a hot housing market can cause a rush of young families into a district as older retirees cash out and move to Florida or whatever. Schools adapt to this. I agree following rules is important. What kind of example are you setting for your kids, right? But having some perspective is also important.
- pj_mukh 7mo ago"A lot of that comes from parental involvement and having a critical mass of engaged students and parents, not the dollar amount spent on each student." FYI, parent engagement is also heavily proportional to parent income/property prices. Very hard to be engaged at school with double/triple working class jobs.
- HDThoreaun 7mo agoIn Chicago subrubs school funding is largely based on local property taxes. Expensive neighborhoods have better funded schools. Of course there's also federal funding for poor schools so really the worst funded schools are the ones where everyone is lower middle class but the best funded schools are in the richest districts. Of course as you point out parental involvement is more important than funding, but they tend to be correlated and funding still matters.
- elil17 7mo agoI'm glad that's how it works where you live. In Illinois, most school funding comes directly from property taxes, meaning rich areas get more. For state funding, they use a system called EBF which is better than straightforwardly giving out money based on local property taxes. However, it is far from fair. As an example, part of the calculation is what's called a "regionalization factor" - where funding is reduced for areas with lower local average incomes.
- hrimfaxi 7mo agoHow do you propose schools be funded?
- Tostino 7mo agoNot OP, but IMO pretty much any funding mechanism other than local property taxes funding the local school is better.
- hrimfaxi 7mo agoHow about only taxing households with school-age residents?
- Tostino 7mo agoYeah, that's the opposite direction I was thinking. Everyone benefits from having an educated next generation.
- J_Shelby_J 7mo agoWill work out great for you for a the first two decades.
- elil17 7mo agoFederally. Every child deserves the same educational opportunity.
- pj_mukh 7mo agoBingo.