Why do I use the word 'scam' so often in these posts on education? Because there are a few issues going on lately that, if they were about sports, or engineering, or airline pilots, would be seen as corrupt scams against the public health and safety.
Philadelphia Phollies
Let's go to Philadelphia first: "It’s a repeat of every year for the Phila school district. As the school year approaches they are shocked to report a massive deficit and beg the State of PA for more funding. The $12,000 per child simply isn’t enough, even though Parochial schools provide ten times the education for $9,000 per child. The district has a slight $80 million deficit this year. Last year they had a $100 million deficit and the mayor proposed a soda tax to fill the gap. It was defeated, so they raised property taxes instead. Mayor Nutter’s name is fitting. He is just another in a long line of Democratic mayors who have ruled Philadelphia since the 1950′s and whose policies of welfare handouts for their voting base paid for by taxing the producers, has resulted in a population decline from 2.1 million in 1950 to 1.5 million today.
$12,000 per year, per child is not enough. To use a favorite word of progressives (that's the current term, isn't it?) this is simply unsustainable. But no matter, abject failure is OK as long as you say "I'm for the children", "it's for the children", "union" and other tired sayings that have worked since the late 1960's. Empirical evidence and statistics don't matter. This is a crime and the children, as always, lose. The employees of the district don't: "For the average teacher earning $68,700 annually, benefit costs pile on an additional $44,100, meaning the average cost of employing a teacher in the system is $112,700."
If this were any other field, there would be real anger at the collapsing bridges, crashing airplanes, bad sports play - but with children in public schools - nothing. Not in the mainstream media or political arena.
Let's Create a Problem Where There is None - NYC
There is a trendy man made 'problem' when it comes to the specialized high schools in NYC. These schools are spectacularly successful, and they churn out literally thousands of literate, capable graduates per year. Our Elite Government Class Overlords think that the admissions process (a merit based exam that has math, reading comprehension and logic) that has worked for decades needs to be changed. Why? The racial makeup of the schools doesn't fit that THEY think it should be. This is an interesting case because the schools over the past 15 years have become predominantly Asian.
This is a problem made our of whole cloth. There are many things wrong with the NYC public school system - these schools are not part of any problem. It is interesting to notice how failing schools in bad neighborhoods garner little discussion, but the merit based schools are have a target on them by the Elites. It is almost as if there is a war against merit.
I am actually having a debate on Facebook about this with people who went to Tech, as I did. It is odd how cavalier they are about changing the requirements now that they've gone through the system. remember, this isn't a problem. Tech, Stuyvesant and Bx Science are success stories. Yet, because a politician feels that the racial makeup "doesn't look like NYC", it should be changed. This is purely illogical and self defeating.
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