While I applaud the sentiment, I imagine the schools so endowed will waste it on something useless like laptops and an accompanying army of consultants. Or perhaps New Trier will pay into the state pension fund to make up for the exorbitant pensions granted its retiring superintendents, or help foot the bill for Governor Blago's "Building more offices for school administrators" construction plan:
But after making the centerpiece of his speech a call for a job-rich $3.2 billion public works construction program, Blagojevich hedged on a major funding source for the package. He never mentioned his controversial idea of using keno wagering to pay for new schools in his address.Or perhaps the most fitting use of the windfall would be to endow New Trier's Young Communist Club, in honor of the painter, Stuart Davis, and the school's continued sentiment for his cause.
I'd like to see the money really go directly to those most needy and be used most wisely, but that would make too much sense. John Stossel on "Myth:Schools Need More Money:
"Everyone has been conned -- you can give public schools all the money in America, and it will not be enough," says Ben Chavis, a former public school principal who now runs the American Indian Charter School in Oakland, Calif. His school spends thousands less per student than Oakland's government-run schools spend.
Chavis saves money by having students help clean the grounds and set up for lunch. "We don't have a full-time janitor," he told me. "We don't have security guards. We don't have computers. We don't have a cafeteria staff." Since Chavis took over four years ago, his school has gone from being among the worst middle schools in Oakland to the one where the kids get the best test scores. "I see my school as a business," he said. "And my students are the shareholders. And the families are the shareholders. I have to provide them with something."
No comments:
Post a Comment