New Ideas for Education
New Ideas for Education
According to the Rochester City Council, it now costs $19,000
per year to educate a student in Rochester. Tuition
at Monroe Community College is $5,600 a year for
out-of-staters (not tax subsidized). Contrasted
with the Rochester School district, Monroe Community College
has much smaller class sizes, better maintained facilities,
higher-paid teachers, and all kinds of high-tech equipment.
What the heck are we doing with all that
money? How could it possibly cost more than three times
as much to educate a student in Rochester as it does to go to
college? We pay more money per student every year and
performance remains the same. Rochester isn't the only
municipality with this problem -- it's a pattern repeated
across the State.
What we're doing now isn't working. We pay more
every year and nothing gets better. So while I
agree that some of my proposals have potential downsides, at
least we'd be doing something different -- something that
might actually improve things.
First, I will tie school administrator pay to student performance. Right now we have administrators taking home six-figure incomes while their students graduate to minimum wage jobs -- or no job at all. I've heard it said that we need to have high salaries to attract the best and the brightest. But, we've been doing that for decades now and it hasn't produced any substantial improvements. Let's try something else. We will give newly hired administrators a one year grace period so that struggling schools will still attract talented people.
Secondly, I would like to explore alternative methods of education. While the school district has given small amounts of money and lip service to alternative educational methods, the committment has been insincere. There are too many entrenched interests, exacerbated by our City's one party rule, for real alternatives to be available for all those who could benefit from them.
Thirdly, I will introduce what I call the everybody wins
plan. You could buy at least two high-quality private school
educations for what it costs to educate a student in Rochester
public schools. So, if a parent wishes their student
to attend a private school, they will get half of
the per-pupil allotment to use for tuition. The school
district keeps the other half, even though they don't have a
student to pay for. The school district also gets to keep
the difference if a private school tuition costs less than $9500,
which it almost certainly will. I am proposing 50% as an
upper limit only. The school district will almost certainly
get thousands more to keep.
Under this plan, the Rochester School District would get $9,500
for a student they don't have to pay to educate, and parents
would get $9,500 for tuition. At any private school in the
Rochester area (except the Harley School), that would completely cover the cost of
tuition. Everybody wins!
This reduces class sizes, generates a financial surplus for
public school districts, gives parents more choices, and allows
poor children to attend a private school that would otherwise
be out of reach.
Finally, many teachers are frustrated with the school
district's policies. A number of teachers have approached
me on their own initiative, and said that they are afraid to speak
out because they fear reprisal. This is
unacceptable. We must put in place protections for those who
are only trying to provide input and help the school district to be
the best environment for education that it can be.
I think it's time to try something other than the
unsatisfactory strategies of the present. Please
join me in bringing new hope to our schools and a better
tomorrow for our children.