Where have all the teachers gone?

Now that school is out for the summer, it seems like a good time to talk about educational reform and the high cost of education.

It’s also time to talk about the judicial hands which control school financing.

Paramount duty – – that’s the words in the state constitution which the courts have ruled requires the state to spend more money for education.

That’s the justification the teacher’s union has used to get more money for teacher salaries.   Remember – – 85 percent of every education dollar goes to salaries, medical care and retirement for school employees.

In 1970, we had 2 million school teachers in the United States.  That was one for every 22 kids.   In 2010 we had 3.2 million school teachers.  That’s one for every 15 kids.

What happened to all the school teachers?  Why are our classroom sizes still too large?

The answer is simple.   They went into administration.   Every time a school district gets a federal or state grant someone has to administer that grant.

That usually means that a school teacher comes out of the classroom and goes into administration.

Money that comes from state and federal sources usually has strings attached.  That means more paperwork and more reporting.  More time and effort required for paperwork means the emphasis changes from educating kids to reporting to government.

School districts always talk about cutting administrators and cutting overhead – – and making certain those cuts don’t impact the classroom – – but, in reality they’re stymied by an educational system that allows them very little leeway.

If they want state and federal funds then they have to have administrators to handle the paperwork.

I’m not saying that red tape is the problem with our educational system.  But it is indicative of the lack of control local school district have to make changes or to make cuts.

Paramount duty!

If it’s the paramount duty of the state to fund basic education then perhaps we need a new definition of basic education.  Perhaps we can start with eliminating red tape and paperwork.

Lets give our local school district some flexibility in using state funds.    Then hold them responsible for the results.