Doing the math...

[agilebrit]

So, the school voucher issue is heating up here in good old Utah, with the election being three weeks away. So I decided to get my calculator out and do some theoretical figuring.

I based it on a beginning class size of 30 kids, which was not out of the realm of possibility when I was growing up. I don't remember anyone bitching about class size back then either.

Apparently we spend $7,000 per student, per year, here. That comes to $210,000 per classroom.

Now, say 5 kids leave, and they're on the poorer end of the spectrum, so they get all $3,000 they're entitled to under the proposed voucher program (the actual amount is $500 - $3,000, so I'm being generous here). They take $15,000 out of the classroom, leaving it with 25 kids and $195,000, because that extra $4,000 per kid gets plowed back into the classroom.

Which now comes to $7,800 per pupil in that same classroom.

So...we've reduced class size, and increased the amount we're spending per kid. All without increasing the amount we're actually spending.

Seriously, someone explain to me how this is a bad thing?

Comments

[bookishwench.livejournal.com]

Actually, I believe in at least my state the absolute maximum number of kids allowed in a class is 28, which, considering the fact the American attention span has dwindled down to less than 2 minutes in the last ten years, is pretty challenging as it stands.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

You didn't figure in the loss of power...

[perseph.livejournal.com]

But the $4000 doesn't get plowed back into the classroom. Assuming the $7000 is based on dividing everything the district spends by the number of students, which is the way it is usually done, anyway.

Your five students are gone, and the class is now 25, which is great. But they still have to pay the teacher the same amount. They can't turn the light off, so they don't save anything in electricity. They still need the principal, and also the secretary in the front office to answer the phone. It's unlikely the special needs students are the ones being accepted at private school, so they probably still need all their aids and special equipment. Five fewer students to clean up after doesn't really transfer to paying the janitor less, and they also need people working in the lunchroom if they serve a hot lunch. Also the building still will need repairs from time to time if a window breaks or the roof starts to leak or something goes wrong with the heat.

I guess they might save a little bit of money in classrooms supplies if they can save a few reams of paper and print five fewer handouts each time.

So basically despite having five fewer students, the cost of running the classroom is basically the same (unless they can actually reduce the number of classes, possibly resulting in even larger class sizes, or shut down a school), only now they have $15,000 with which to do it.

So they cut art. Or maybe music or PE or any other of the things that seem like extras. Or maybe they cut an aid from the special needs programs and start tying students to their chairs to keep control of the classroom.

Unless they can reduce the number of classes or even close school entirely, losing a couple of students here and there from each grade and each school won't actually save the district anything. Losing the money with them will hurt the remaining students.

I actually do support school choice and competition though, so long as everyone has a choice and not just the more privileged students.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Seriously, someone explain to me how this is a bad thing?

Because then the UEA and the state department of education doesn't have a stranglehold on the education of children, of course!

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind here that I'm for school vouchers.

Doesn't the school get federal money for each child in school? That's why they shove kids through who should be expelled/held back/suspended. Every warm body represents money.

I could be wrong on this front, but it would explain why they are fighting it so hard. The vouchers are better for the students but the administrators don't often really care about that.