Posted on 07/01/2009 7:22:38 AM PDT by reaganaut1
...
[Bloomberg has] overseen a large expansion in annual school spending, to $22 billion from $13 billion, with the additional money pumped in from Mr. Bloomberg’s budget and from the state. And that has allowed them to reshape the system to reflect the central elements of the mayor’s philosophy: smaller schools, relentless assessments of progress, and higher salaries for administrators to attract top talent.
A New York Times analysis of seven years of education spending has found a number of changes in how dollars are allocated. There are now 1,075 more principals and assistant principals, even as overall student enrollment has fallen, largely because the city has broken up a number of underperforming schools into smaller schools. There are more administrators, like academic coaches who track test scores, and more support staff, with tasks like patrolling hallways and monitoring attendance.
And more administrators are earning top dollar. The number of employees making more than $150,000 has risen to 240, up from 175 in 2002, when those salaries are adjusted for inflation. The number earning at least $125,000 has more than tripled, to 1,935.
Some shifts were driven by necessity. While the number of teachers in regular classrooms has dropped, hundreds more special education teachers were added to keep pace with a 26 percent jump in students needing those services. There are also thousands more special education assistants and therapists.
Much of the increase in the overall budget has been used to pay for rising teacher salaries, pensions and benefits, as well as the growing debt for new school construction.
...
[O]fficials say that the size of the teaching corps is in line with the student population, which dropped to 1,029,459 in 2008 from 1,091,717 six years earlier, and that having more support staff frees teachers to concentrate on the classroom.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
$22,000 per student and they STILL cannot read or write!
That sums it up.
We are so broken.
“....$22,000 per student and they STILL cannot read or write!...”
Corrected:
$22,000 pa’ dude en dey stihl kent rid ‘er rite!!!
This is not about educating kids anymore. It’s about building the public educational complex into a well-heeled, irresistible force. And impoverishing the rest of us. This garbage MUST be stopped.
Obambi has the highly successful reformer of the CHICAGO Schools in charge now of ALL schools in our country...... /SARC
ping for later
Well, at least Bloomberg hit on one improvement. Using the money to open more and smaller schools is a better plan than just pouring more money into existing failed schools. Smaller school population will eliminate a lot of the out of control problems. Children do much better in small schools. In fact that may be one of the reasons that private schools do a better job. (not defending public schools, just giving praise where it’s earned)
More leftist bureaucracy and naturally the Times LOVES it! How are those bills coming along, Pinch?
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