Funds sliced, teacher sells ads on tests

Union-Tribune ^ | November 22, 2008 | Linda Lou

[Tax-chick]

To reduce expenses, the Poway Unified School District chose to trim materials and supplies instead of personnel, Superintendent Don Phillips said.

I wonder what Superintendent Don Phillips's salary is, and how many Assistant, Deputy Assistant, and Special Assistant Superintendents he has?

I don't think the printing sponsorship is a terrible idea; another choice would be to write the test questions on the blackboard and have the students copy them on lined white paper.

[ElayneJ]

So, the more tests he administers the more ads he can sell, right? Add to that the fact that there’s tacit endorsement of the product by virtue of the fact that it appears on a school-related item in the first place. And why stop there? Why not have ads all over the classroom? I like the idea that this guy is inventive and creative - I don’t think ads belong on test papers and I’m unbelievably tired of hearing how our educational system is underfunded. Maybe schools should post their dollars-per-student information before asking for donations - much like fast food restaurants are forced to post their nutritional information.

[Leisler]

In Massachusetts, about half the personnel are non-teachers.

I figure if you total up local, state and Federal spending on K-12. Add in other costs like Police that come out of the Police budget, capital costs of buildings and such, that in Massachusetts we spend about $20,000 per year per ‘student’.

Now if you think like any private enterprise and figure about half of your factory's production will fail out in the world, the marketplace. You have to eat those costs and fold them into the units that do work. So, I figure it costs around $40,000 per year, per student to price out the ones that can get through the first year at community college.

So, this is what I tell my teacher friends. I say, imagine you have ten students. And I give you $200,000 for the year. You rent the classroom, provide the heat, books if any, supplies, and you keep the rest. For example, you might spend $100,000 on the classroom, and keep a $100,000 for your self.

Usually you can see their eyes widen, a wiff of thought smoke, and then then shut down into usual town worker mode.

[Tax-chick]

Good analysis! I remember seeing a state-by-state breakdown on how much money went for classroom inputs vs. how much was “overhead.” Of course, you’ve got to keep the lights on and have flush toilets, but the salaries of the non-teaching employees are where a lot of the money disappears. (Not to mention what they steal.)

[FrankR]

Speaking as a former advertising consultant, I think they should include some incentive promotion on these tests, like:

Answer the following question correctly and win a free order of french fries at Joe's Sandwich Shoppe, 123 Oak Street.

Name three facets of the Bush doctrine.

[PrincessB]

Maybe schools should post their dollars-per-student information before asking for donations - much like fast food restaurants are forced to post their nutritional information. This is a common practice among private schools. In fact, I get an annual report that shows tuition vs. cost per student, amount spent on salaries for teachers, salaries for adminstrators, running costs (the electric bill, etc.), financial aid spent, etc. from my high school. The idea is to show that you are donating to a cause that spends your money to educate others.

[Amelia]

I’m unbelievably tired of hearing how our educational system is underfunded. Maybe schools should post their dollars-per-student information before asking for donations

The school district might collect lots of money per student, but that doesn't mean that teachers get lots of money for classroom expenses.

I always end up spending a fair bit of money out of pocket for copy paper, printer cartridges, etc. before the school year is over.

Our governor decided to award each teacher $100 per year to be spent on classroom supplies, and in response, the district cut our supply budget by $100 per teacher.

I'm not planning to sell ads on my tests any time soon, however, and I haven't asked parents for donations yet.

[Amelia]

Public Education Ping

This list is for intelligent discussion of articles and issues related to public education (including charter schools) from the preschool to university level. Items more appropriately placed on the “Naughty Teacher” list, “Another reason to Homeschool” list, or of a general public-school-bashing nature will not be pinged. If you would like to be on or off this list, please freepmail Amelia, Gabz, Shag377, or SoftballMominVa

[A_perfect_lady]

another choice would be to write the test questions on the blackboard and have the students copy them on lined white paper.

Or use the overhead projector. I've done that.

[ElayneJ]

Right. I taught second grade for a (short) while and I did the same thing, buying ancillary materials for my students on a regular basis. We had a seriously underfunded school in the first place, but I know teachers continue do this and should never have to. If allocated money actually went to the classroom teacher for teaching purposes that would be great! As it stands now, I have the feeling that no matter how much money we pour into the schools it will never be enough. How do we reform the system to ensure that money goes where it needs to be?

[CottonBall]

I’m unbelievably tired of hearing how our educational system is underfunded. Maybe schools should post their dollars-per-student information before asking for donations - much like fast food restaurants are forced to post their nutritional information.

That is a great idea. We spend far more per student than most other countries, yet are on the bottom on the TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science Tests) that have been given every 3 years since 1985.

After the CA budget was approved with cuts in education (finally!), my son came home telling us how all his teachers were telling the kids that the school was going to cut back on all sorts of things for the kids. In essense, threatening the kids. Instead of handling it like adults, they put the burden on the kids and were punitive about it. No surprise there from a bunch of libs that expect cash for no performance.

[CottonBall]

How do we reform the system to ensure that money goes where it needs to be?

There would have to be an audit to see where the money is going to first. That'll likely never happen, because I'd guess the administrators (who are getting the big bucks) wouldn't allow it.

[bannie]

If your schools have Channel One, your kids are already sitting through some SERIOUSLY targeted ads every day during school time.

[Tax-chick]

That’s another good option. It’s been so long since I’ve seen an overhead projector that I forget they existed!

[brytlea]

I too don’t care about having the sponsorship, but agree there are other ways to save (and anyway, they should be all about saving taxpayer money regardless). When I was still teaching HS we made a classroom set of tests, which we reused year to year (unless curriculum changes were made which forced rewriting of tests). The kids wrote their answers on their own paper. Saved a LOT of paper and money.

[brytlea]

I always end up spending a fair bit of money out of pocket for copy paper, printer cartridges, etc. before the school year is over.

Wow, I never was out of pocket for that sort of stuff. I paid for things I wanted to get for my classroom out of my own pocket, but nothing I would have considered essential.

[brytlea]

LOL the private school where I taught last year had what they call an Intelligent Classroom. Basically my computer was hooked up to a big screen and could be manipulated with a remote control. I put my overhead into the closet and didn’t use it ever again!

[goldi]

Maybe the parents could tell the teachers that it would probably be cheaper for the state to pay parents to homeschool, which has been suggested by a public official in one state already. That would shut them up fast.

[Tax-chick]

Now that I think about it, someone used an overhead projector in a presentation I saw at church last year. But they seem to be getting pretty rare out in the real world.