tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post2676789842930281628..comments2023-04-15T11:32:36.760-04:00Comments on The Other Athens: Clarke County School District AYP '07 (reprise)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post-18689793901379140122007-07-13T12:26:00.000-04:002007-07-13T12:26:00.000-04:00No amount of spending will reverse this situation....<I>No amount of spending will reverse this situation.</I><BR/><BR/>I'd agree with that, which is why I believe in far less school choice than ACC has. What I'd prefer is a combination of social and racial integration, education, and well-being for everyone. This requires better funding for the schools <I>and</I> elimination of opting out. As I've said before, though, I don't think it's super likely this will happen, and I do understand I'm in the vast minority when it comes to that view.hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11115290007190070450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post-22520850103225266342007-07-13T12:12:00.000-04:002007-07-13T12:12:00.000-04:00There is not too much choice in Clarke County, but...There is not too much choice in Clarke County, but too little. Parents can not choose the school their children will attend, but may simply order their preferences as to which school their children will be bused to. This does not constitute meaningful choice. <BR/><BR/>Meaningful choices would allow parents to choose from a variety of schools which differ in both their curriculum and their pedagogy. <BR/><BR/>It is certainly the case that Clarke County's program of administrative assignment has resulted in Clarke County schools being very well integrated. And if the primary objective of our schools is integration, Clarke County gets an A+. <BR/><BR/>Of course most parents care more about their children's well being and educational outcomes than they do about socio-economic and racial integration. And they do not want their children going to school with violent gang members and other children who, reared in an atmosphere of neglect and abuse, exhibit a wide variety of undesirable social behavior ranging from noisy classroom disruptions to drug use and rape. <BR/><BR/>Many parents have thus withdrawn their children from the Clarke County school system and enrolled them in other schools that prioritize education over integration. The students who leave Clarke public schools tend to be the higher performing students, and so the Clarke schools will continue to spiral downward, relative to other local school systems, as the better students leave.<BR/><BR/>No amount of spending will reverse this situation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post-60435961512312630032007-07-13T11:27:00.000-04:002007-07-13T11:27:00.000-04:00You do have a point about the transportation thing...You do have a point about the transportation thing. The excess of school choice in Athens certainly leads to that.<BR/><BR/><I>If the CCSD cannot purchase updated textbooks with a mere $10,000 per pupil, perhaps the remedy is not more spending, but rather some changes in the District’s policies and priorities.</I><BR/><BR/>Such as? Other than modifying the amount of school choice at the elementary level for Athens-Clarke County, which I probably wouldn't have a problem with, what do you suggest we cut? With the number of unfunded mandates the general assembly has handed down, there's not a lot of flexibility in school budgets. It would help, admittedly, to know a little bit more specifically what something as large as "pupil services" covers. Basically, I have a fundamental attitude of trusting people who work for the school system, partially because I have a trust of government social services (clearly an area where we differ, which is fine; I know I differ with a lot of people there) and partially because I have friends who work in it. It seems to me that, when they say, "it's not adequately funded" that that generally means it's not. They're not just complaining about their own pay. I don't know what the magic number is for per-pupil funding, but it's not my job to come up with it. It's the job of people who know what it takes and know the system, and they're the ones suing the state for not providing enough money.hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11115290007190070450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post-63117668423662747422007-07-13T10:18:00.000-04:002007-07-13T10:18:00.000-04:00I realize that the state's school funding is not i...I realize that the state's school funding is not in line with the QBE formula derived back in the 1980s, but that is not my point (and is actually irrelevant to the issue of legitimate adequacy, which should concern the amount of spending and its results rather than the source of the money).<BR/><BR/>The expenditure reports from the Georgia Department of Education give per pupil expenditures in seven categories (Instruction, Pupil Services, Staff Services, General Administration, School Administration, Transportation, and Maintenance & Operations). The CCSD outpaces the state average in every category and by some wide margins.<BR/><BR/>You asked where the money is being wasted – just pick a category. For example, why is per pupil transportation 76% more expensive in Clarke County, the geographically smallest in the state, than the state average? Because of how much money we choose to spend and how we choose to spend it. The same goes for the other categories.<BR/><BR/>Assuming the state kicked in more funding, what would change? We would merely be doing at the state level what we have been doing at the local level for years - a strategy that has proven to be a miserable failure.<BR/><BR/>My concern is what constitutes "adequate" in a meaningful sense. This year's budget will put per pupil spending at over $10,000 - and yet somehow that is not adequate? How much more funding would it take to positively affect Clarke County's schools? How much money per pupil would result in adequacy? $12,000? $15,000? $20,000?<BR/><BR/>If the CCSD cannot purchase updated textbooks with a mere $10,000 per pupil, perhaps the remedy is not more spending, but rather some changes in the District’s policies and priorities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5994679863347954941.post-85872941499285672642007-07-13T09:15:00.000-04:002007-07-13T09:15:00.000-04:00James, as ever, just because the amount of funding...James, as ever, just because the amount of funding Clarke County schools receive in total is above the state average does NOT mean it is adequate. It does not mean they're being funded according to formula. It does not mean they have enough money to do things like purchase updated textbooks. Where do you think this extra money is going/being wasted?hillaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11115290007190070450noreply@blogger.com