Public Schools Have a Spending Problem
by Kyle OlsonWhen the Congress passed the Public School Bailout, it was akin to slapping a band-aid on a bleeding head wound. American public school systems spend somewhere around a half-trillion dollars a year, and another $10 billion is going to make everything alright? Hardly.
Public schools have a serious spending problem. When a local teachers union bargains with the school district over a new teacher contract, the new contract typically includes all kinds of hidden expenses. Collective bargaining agreements typically put school districts on the hook for sick leave pay, cash payouts for unused sick days, release time to conduct union business, and other embedded costs that cause school districts to hemorrhage huge amounts of money.
News coverage of teacher contracts, if there is any, is rarely controversial or in-depth. It usually covers the general raise every employee receives, as well as the modest increase in health insurance co-pays. But dig beneath the surface, and a different story emerges.
Education Action Group is dedicated to pointing out the huge spending problems plaguing our schools. We recently conducted an analysis of nearly 20 teacher contracts in southwest Ohio and uncovered some shocking numbers. For example, Cincinnati Public Schools spent $7.5 million on sick leave in last year. How many teacher salaries would that cover?
And how about this? The state of Ohio has an unfunded mandate requiring every school employee be given 15 sick days per year. Last year, an Ohio school district that has 308 teachers used 4,187 sick days last school year. Once the costs for substitute teachers are factored in, paying for those sick days becomes a major expense.
Using these themes, the Education Action Group recently posted 25 billboards in the greater Cincinnati area to draw attention to some of the most egregious examples of wasteful spending that are written into teacher contracts through the collective bargaining process.
Our most provocative message: “Did you get a raise for not dying this summer?” This refers to “step raises” – pay increases given simply because a teacher has another year of experience, not because any sort of improvement was made. Step raises cost Cincinnati schools over $3 million last year alone.
Of course, that is just a microcosm of what’s going on across the country.
Milwaukee Public Schools spends nearly $24,000 per employee on health insurance. The union sued to put Viagra coverage back in the plan, and that will cost the district another $700,000 a year.
Indianapolis Public Schools spends nearly $25,000 a month on cell phones.
If that is how school districts are spending precious tax dollars, it’s little wonder why districts nationwide are being forced to lay off teachers, delay the purchase of new textbooks, and strip classrooms of necessary supplies such as Kleenex.
EAG will continue to raise awareness of the wasteful spending plaguing our public schools until they stop putting the needs of adults ahead of the children, get their spending under control and live within their means.
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70 Comments
When was the education system better… 50+ years ago or today? More spending won't fix ANYTHING!
No problem. After November, Big Education is going to have a funding problem.
I have a Cousin that went to school with the Superintendent of Schools here, My Cousins $36,000.00 a year job consists of driving to the office whenever the Superintendent of Schools needs copies made, my guess here is the Superintendent of Schools doesn't know how to use her Copy Machine.
Gov Christi is drawing attention to these issues. We think congress is the problem, Governors can do a lot also.
The first thing to go is the unions! There is no excuse for a teacher being kept in a school, that's not doing their job!
And hopefully a new BIG site looking after it daily.
Let's do some math… 4187 sick days divided by 308 teachers equals approximately 13.6 sick days per teacher. That most likely is in addition to vacation time, etc. I worked in Engineering and the I.T. for a manufacturing company for 24 years and I probably had under 10 sick days total for 24 years!
Time to break the unions and weed out the dead wood and those who think the schools should pay for Viagra for the other dead wood. I'm sure there are good teachers, but clean out the bad and let some eager young college graduates get to work. Unions destroy performance, productivity, and workers drive to succeed by working harder.
10 days over 24 years… whoa. (Beats my 14 days over 17 years) /SALUTE!
A portion of a letter re this topic:
"If it were up to me I would completely alter the model that public schools operate under, and place these buildings in for profit private hands. The students and the parents would then be customers, and the schools would grow into what those customers want most, witness the wide and wonderful variety we have in pre-schools and private schools in our community. At every school board meeting the mix of caustic union influences, parents who want other citizens to meet their children's unique needs, and ungrateful teenagers – all sit and yell at an all volunteer school board that is hamstrung by the largest cabal of idiots ever to run a state government, led by a man that on his first day confessed to fornicating with someone at a motel, to avoid blackmail. Our own community is not untouched by this ignorance; during the school board meeting seemingly every one, but me, celebrated the future installation of solar panels on an elementary school for $500,000.00 in funds provided by New York state or the Federal government, both of which are insolvent. In this environment, we can only hope that the best thing that happens for our children is by accident and sheer luck.
To those of you who think that your children are getting the shaft and will be somehow permanently damaged by whatever may come. I graduated XXXXXXXX in 1991. I and many of my classmates live in this neighborhood because of our memories of a great experience at these schools, and the opportunities this community provides for our children, we had this experience for far less money than we spend now. A chalk board, a teacher, a classroom and our willingness to learn and imagine and take risks was all that was required. One look at my yearbook and almost to the person they are all productive, if not, thriving members of society – as your children will be – no matter what happens with this budget. To those souls in my class that have been lost, we will never forget you."
Exactly! Bad teachers should be fired like any other bad employee!
Thank you for your work. Keep up the great work.
That is something I have wondered a bit about, how come we dont have Big Education on here yet. Although, we are also missing Big Labor to.
Teachers have risen from the abused to the abuser. No more at my expense.
Following Negotiations, Public Sector Unions Secure Right to Taxpayers' First-Borns http://optoons.blogspot.com/2010/06/following-neg...
You are spot on. It sounds like a Ponzi scheme does it not?
Excellent Idea !
I would love to see a new menu choice at the top for "BIGEDUCATION"
Andrew… Take note!
Patience is virtue I suppose. Another expansion will cost a few frogskins, Plus BIG peace is still getting of the ground… those are my only guesses. *shrug*
HOME SCHOOL your Children!
'Nuff said!
I keep hinting at it, every time I comment on an education related post. We should continue to be 'Cato the Elder' and keep shouting 'Big Education delenda est'.
what is it with sick days? so many people who have them use them for things other than being sick. then when they are sick, they need to take extra days off. why do they deserve to be paid for not taking care of themself, or wasting thier sick days? if you are not making money for your employer(or wasting tax dollars for public sector employees), why do you deserve to be paid?
Until we can BAN Gov't Unions and these "unfunded mandates" …we will remain shackled & chained.
Schools have a lot of high-paid administrators, too. If public schools were actually desirable places to send your kids to get an education, it might be worth shelling out 25K per year per student. But, in our area, we could send ALL kids to private schools for about half that price.
How about all those former teachers/school administrators on the school boards? How about those school levy/school board elections not on the same day as general elections?
There's certainly no shortage of material.
Defeating the Obama Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H64N_uYA35Y
"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
It does take alot to make a new Big site. But hey, things are going so far so good. Big Peace may have a rocky start, but many here support many of the Big sites, so there really is nothing to worry about.
We must abolish the Education Dept and get the Fed Gov out of education altogether. That is the main thing that needs to be done at the Federal level.
The second thing is to focus school budgets on ABCs, not social engineering and replacement of family responsiblities, and providing day care…
These two changes can fix 90% of the problems at most K-12 schools. The Universities have liberal insest and need more drastic remedies to fix.
Yep. And quite a few Education stories get spread out between BIG GOV and BIG J, enough to warrant their own thread… (IMHO)
This graph tells you everything you need to know.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/graph...
Crazy isn't it?
What about families who can't afford to have one parent stay at home to teach the children?
Not all unions are bad, and not everything unions do is bad. Just like not all Wall Street banks are bad, though, certainly, there are some doozies.
It's doubtful "most" of our parents went to one room schools, because since 1950, two-thirds of U.S. population has lived in urban centers–unless you're from West Virginia, and assume everyone else here is, too. But that aside, if you kill Federal funding of schools, you'll kill charter schools as well, because anyone who sends their kid to a charter school needs that money. Elsewise, they'd skip the whole charter school issue and send the kid to a private school, Federal money be damned. So be careful what you wish for, because I doubt you and your West Virginian buddies can afford private schools.
MYTH: there is a correlation between SPENDING on education and the QUALITY of education.
There isn't any! Want proof?
Look at california. Even though the state has been bankrupt by the tax-and-spend death-spiral policies of the lunatic-left d-crat socialists that control the legislature, their pals in the out-of-control unions have seen to it that california spends MORE THAN ANY OTHER STATE ON EDUCATION (no matter how you count the spending: per student, per school, etc). CA's spending on education has increased more than 190% since 1990 and this spending now consumes 40% of the entire state budget.
So is california education the BEST?
FACT: California ranks as the SECOND WORST STATE in education based on nearly every test!
Just chalk up this matter as another one of the many, many lies, distortions, half-truths and propaganda that the teacher's union and their pals in the socialist media throw out to an uninformed public.
Unlelfuckayou, my parents went to school in 1 room schools in NY State. Of course it was in the 20's and 30's. So again you talk out of your ass.
Single Parents Home School, and I know parents who one works days and one nights or similar and Home School still totally kicks a$$ on Public School.
But based on your obscene handle, you don't realy want an answer, you are just trolling…
AMEN!!!!
That Graph explains EVERYTHING!
DC schools are the worst and they spend more per student than any district in the nation. I think the president, all those in congress, or any other level of federal government should have to send their kids to those schools instead of the top notch private schools that most of them are sending their kids to. If they vote in support of teachers unions or vote against vouchers, which shows a support for the philosophy of public schools, then they should have to send their kids to those public schools like everyone else. Then we would see some change in those schools.
I teach at a private school and, not to brag, but our kids get a great education. Most of them return and tell us that college is easier than high school so we prepare them well at half the cost of what they are doing in public schools.
Test scores and student performance have been in a downward spiral ever since President Peanut Brain launched the Department of Education. And they call us "extreme" because we advocate shutting down this middle-class welfare program?
You said "most of our parents…" You're, what, 75 years old? The 75+ group of Americans aren't "most" of our population. You should have said "a small minority" of our parents attended one room schools. And further to your point, there are 75 million kids under 18 in American–if you built one room schools today, you'd have a couple millions schools, and that can't be cost effective.
I forgot……………the politician pockets some of the money after it is donated to his election campaign. It's not a Ponzi scheme W76,
It's fraud and should be prosecuted. The only reason it isn't, is because Holder is Mr. Obama's Administrations shield. Kind of like NBP.
Look jackass, I am not 75. Most of us in my age group and older had parents that attended very small even 1 room schools. The Central school system wasn't invented until the progressive era, so schools were local and very small. Furthermore you missed my point, either purposely or because of stupidity, that point being schools and students were better than they are now, while spending a hell of allot less money per student in the process.
So to sum up, unklefucka you !
We learned just about everything Glenn Beck is teaching on his program. I see what my grand kids are learning now in school and think, they wont know a darn thing.
What is your age group? Because my parents were born in the '40s and they went to regular ol' high schools, drove cars and had electricity. Heck, they even had a radio! The only guy I know who attended a school where all grades were housed in the same 3-story building was from, yep, West Virginia (and he can barely read). So, no, most our parents didn't attend one room schools, and those schools are not better than today's schools. They may have been better than some of today's worst schools, but schools back in the day didn't have crack, meth, and semi-retarded Republicans to deal with, so, yeah, they may have had an advantage.
If I was trolling, I wouldn't have asked a serious question.
But how does a single parent home school? They must never sleep or have a social life. This doesn't make it sound very doable :http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/schooling/effective_home_schooling/homeschooling_and_single_parents.aspx
Let's abolish ALL the public schools and the DOE and institute a private, for-profit school system. Every family could get a tax credit for tuition and we wouldn't be burdened by the local school tax. It is an absolute fact that the education kids get in private schools is far superior to public school education. The best schools would thrive because parents would be lining up to get their kids in and the, less than or failing schools would go out of business quickly.
Everyone benefits in this situation. My niece went to private schools up to the 10th grade and then went to the public school. She was able to coast thru her last two years and graduated with honors stating everything taught in the last 2 years she had already learned.
I would love to see all the over paid administrators and the DOE on the unemployment line.
Wow, you anti Obama people are really bad. You think is weak cartoon featuring a bunch of out of context comments is revealing. I could take sentences out of the bill of rights and make it sound like i am declaring war, doesn't mean that was the original message. Anyone that blames Obama for the current financial status in the U.S. is a fool, it was well on its way to this point for years.
There are many resources.
BTW – My kids are more important than my social life, but that is a personal choice I make.
But you can't expect me to take you seriously with your obscene handle…
You're handle ain't exactly family-friendly, either. Actually, it's kinda scary. I wonder if your kids would get it?
No President of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress.
Democrats controlled both houses of Congress before Barack Obama became president. The deficit he inherited was created by the Congressional Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders.
“Free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity”
Haven't missed one in 10, almost 11 years. Been working since 15 and am 33. Only missed maybe three days in all that except when I had mono. Only missed a week or so for mono. Since the mono I haven't missed a day in almost eleven years.
For you guys and anyone else who does so; this is something to be proud of. Instead, I know many who gloat about their ability to take sick days without even being sick. Hell, some I know are encouraged to do so. That doesn't even include the multitude of holidays many people get time off for now. I work most holidays.
Something for nothing does not exist and actions have consequences.
But it is not obscene.
It is Latin, and historically accurate, and My kids will fully understand it, and it;s context, when appropriate.
Your handle is merely obscene, unfunny, and tragically in poor taste.
If you REALLY want help home schooling, I can assist you in learning what resources there are for you in your state AFTER you change you name and come around here with a positive rep score.
You know what they say about a duck? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it is a duck.
You are a Troll by the same description.
Good Day and may God Bless you.
I have been against school spending for a long time. I am glad someone wrote this to shed light on the abuse that is lumped on taxpayers. Most people who are asleep will grumble at their high property taxes but they don't even realize that schools are chewing up 60-80% of property taxes that are levied. We don't need fancy schools with flat screen tvs and expensive computers. Kids only need chalk, paper, pencils, erasers, and text books. Everything else is a waste of taxpayer money. They need to get back to basics.
Gary, I think this idiot just proved how he missed your point. He is a complete idiot.
Instead of comparing what was being taught in school instead of all the crap that is put into the schools.
For instance, the Department of Education has only been around for roughly 30 years. Billions has been tossed into this department and the education level of the nation has barely gone up one point overall.
In short, the Department of Education is nothing but an EPIC WASTE of OUR MONEY.
The only actual good unions are those that are there for the worker, only thing is that many unions now are no longer fighting the workers rights anymore. In fact, many unions now are fighting for their union leaders and getting policial deals and given the ability to expand their power. Best example of this is SEIU.
IMO though, Id say we should get rid of all unions. They are a waste of money in any industry, and only hurt not help the industry either. On top of that, public unions should have never existed in the first place.
You also forget the time they get off even during the school season.
Quite possibly the dumbest comment I have ever read! So your cousin just sits at home and waits for the phone to ring and then drives off to make copies?
Who is the dumb one there?
Everyone needs to take a second to consider any time a government agency says "We need more money?" "We need more money" in many cases in an excuse to cover gross inefficiencies and defects in program management. We need a complete audit of any organization, down to the lowliest public elementary school.
Evidently it's you, "Public Schools Have a Spending Problem", you don't see a problem with someone staying home and getting $36,000 a year? No wonder you have a -89 rating. Billy Yank has been Yanking his tool too long.
The Government started getting involved with the School System when they started giving money to fund the lunch programs, before that it was strictly a State issue the Federal Government had no role in the School System.
i'll take the other end of your argument, Gary. i'm a boomer who rarely had less than 30 kids in class with me and WE LEARNED! now they cry, whine, bitch, piss, and moan about overcrowding! if a class has two thirds as many. hmmm, smaller classes = more union teachers. i can do the math on that one in my head.
now you know why the schools deliberately do such a piss poor job teaching math & statistics- to make sure as few people as possible can connect those dots.
by any reasonable apples to apples comparison, it's an 8 month work year at most. factor in health bennies, retirement contributions, typical public employee exemption from Social Security taxes, etc., and teachers with decent seniority are pulling down $70,000+ for 2/3 of a work year, with virtually ZERO accountability for job performance. the 'underpaid public school teacher' is a mythical beast invented by unions, educrats, and a compliant media.
I got paid for not dying this summer! Oh wait. That's because I don't have a summer break. I was working.
When I was in school I don't ever remember a teacher being out "sick" that long. Don't they also have summer off from work? Also, when I was in a public HS (80s) it was embarrassing to the student and family if the kid dropped out! WTF? You are right there is no motivation from the students, parents and some teachers.
I agree with those who call for elimination of the Department of Education and also the removal of public employee unions, but if schools all were privatized, would the unions not be able to shift focus and keep themselves embedded within our education system? I'm thinking UAW in the manufacturing sector, and I see no good coming of it. The only real solution is to ban unions from certain industries (or all!), and let capitalism do its thing.
No, I don't believe any school system just pays some to make copies when the supt. needs it done!
That is what is stupid about the comment
It doesn't effect me at all, she lives three Cities away, no effect on my City taxes, so why would I lie, I don't have a dog in this fight, you must work for a School System, let me guess. Janitor?
How stupid are you? What I am pointing out is the waste in City Government, but with a second grade education I guess you don't understand, and bet you blindly voted for Obama. Moron!!!!!
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<DIV>No…not at all and not a Janitor…but this is just like Republicans and Conservatives to cut on someone who might be a janitor or work other support jobs. Don't earn lots of money…must be worthless.</DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>NICE!
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