[Speed Gibson,
Monday December 6, 2004 at 3:01pm]
Schools Burn, While Liberals Fiddle
Star Tribune Columnist Nick Coleman isn't the story here. He is but one of many liberals unhappy that the K-12 public schools cannot spend as much as they want. But every such thrust must be parried. The Legislature lost Republicans and Governor Pawlenty seems to have lost his courage of late.
So let's get to it, Coleman's latest jeremiad of Dec. 5:
The truth is, school spending is significantly higher even adjusted for inflation than just 10 years ago. And enrollment is about the same. If the funds were adequate in the 90's, they are adequate now.
It's also true that many districts are struggling financially. The revenues are there, so it must be a spending problem. The people who should be reigning these excesses in are the ones shirking their duty.
Mismanagement? Why, then, did they try to keep Dr. Carol Johnson? Why do they not let David Jennings do his job? Also, Mr. Coleman omits that enrollment has dropped signficantly in Minneapolis. But spending still grows. More money won't solve anything until these matters are settled.
What are we supposed to cut now? People, of course. I'm not being cold or impertinent. Let's do what I call The Fredinburg Equation, using recent figures from a large suburban district.
Average spending per student: $7100. Average class size: 31. Average spending per class is therefore about $220,000. Subtract 15% non-payroll, and you have about $187,000. Subtract a full time average teacher with benefits ($58k) and we have $129,000 in remaining payroll.
I counted all the teachers, principals, counselors, nurses, custodians, secretaries, librarians, cooks, etc in my high school yearbook, and estimated the bus drivers. I found roughly 1 support person (full time equivalent) for every 2 teachers. Let's say today that's now 1:1, and that they average the same pay as a teacher, though probably less.
We now have $71,000 left, and apparently for not for mission critical purposes. Yes, there's plenty of room to cut here. A good place to start is with the bloated number of students said to have "special education" requirements, today well over 100,00 out of 850,000 in Minnesota.
Every business in a "turnaround situation" faces these same challenges. You have a staff of people that do various tasks for your organization. These tasks all have value as do the people who perform them, but some tasks are clearly more important than others to the profitability of the business. If the cuts required would leave the business unprofitable, it goes out of business.
The same should apply to the schools. Prioritize the tasks being performed. Fund the list as far down as income permits, cut the rest. Look for out-sourcing opportunities, such as in accounting, systems, and building maintenance. Weed out the poor performers in your organization.
But if you still can't meet your obligations, including those imposed by the Legislature and Congress, you, too, should go out of business rather than pretend to do the job you are not doing.
So let's get to it, Coleman's latest jeremiad of Dec. 5:
We have reached a four-alarm crisis in the education of this state's children, and the people who should be responding to the fire -- the governor, the Legislature, local political leaders -- are shirking their duty.
No, they are doing worse than shirking. They are wrecking an education system that made Minnesota a leader.
The truth is, school spending is significantly higher even adjusted for inflation than just 10 years ago. And enrollment is about the same. If the funds were adequate in the 90's, they are adequate now.
It's also true that many districts are struggling financially. The revenues are there, so it must be a spending problem. The people who should be reigning these excesses in are the ones shirking their duty.
The night before the state budget forecast, the Minneapolis School District, rocked by mismanagement within and attacks from without, announced that 17 schools are marked for closure.
Mismanagement? Why, then, did they try to keep Dr. Carol Johnson? Why do they not let David Jennings do his job? Also, Mr. Coleman omits that enrollment has dropped signficantly in Minneapolis. But spending still grows. More money won't solve anything until these matters are settled.
And on the same night in St. Paul, Superintendent Patricia Harvey revealed that the largest district in the state faces a $24 million deficit -- on top of $50 million already cut over the past five years.
...
"We started out with these cuts as an opportunity to re-think," Harvey says. "And I will show our track record -- how we spend money -- to anyone. But we're past the surface. We're cutting bone and muscle. We're a business that's 87 percent people. What are we supposed to cut now? We could turn out the lights and not save the money we need to cover the deficit."
What are we supposed to cut now? People, of course. I'm not being cold or impertinent. Let's do what I call The Fredinburg Equation, using recent figures from a large suburban district.
Average spending per student: $7100. Average class size: 31. Average spending per class is therefore about $220,000. Subtract 15% non-payroll, and you have about $187,000. Subtract a full time average teacher with benefits ($58k) and we have $129,000 in remaining payroll.
I counted all the teachers, principals, counselors, nurses, custodians, secretaries, librarians, cooks, etc in my high school yearbook, and estimated the bus drivers. I found roughly 1 support person (full time equivalent) for every 2 teachers. Let's say today that's now 1:1, and that they average the same pay as a teacher, though probably less.
We now have $71,000 left, and apparently for not for mission critical purposes. Yes, there's plenty of room to cut here. A good place to start is with the bloated number of students said to have "special education" requirements, today well over 100,00 out of 850,000 in Minnesota.
Every business in a "turnaround situation" faces these same challenges. You have a staff of people that do various tasks for your organization. These tasks all have value as do the people who perform them, but some tasks are clearly more important than others to the profitability of the business. If the cuts required would leave the business unprofitable, it goes out of business.
The same should apply to the schools. Prioritize the tasks being performed. Fund the list as far down as income permits, cut the rest. Look for out-sourcing opportunities, such as in accounting, systems, and building maintenance. Weed out the poor performers in your organization.
But if you still can't meet your obligations, including those imposed by the Legislature and Congress, you, too, should go out of business rather than pretend to do the job you are not doing.