Friday, September 30, 2016

The economics of school choice in Texas


"Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life."
Proverbs 4:13

We warn you that this video contains a LOT of numbers, but it's really good background if you're not familiar with the issue:



Highlights:

  • Texas spends nearly $13k per student right now.
  • Texas spends appox. $60 billion on K-12 education over the two year budget cycle.
  • Each class of 20 kids = $250k
    • "How many teachers do you know making a quarter million dollars per year?!?"
  • Non-teaching staff growing 3x faster than students.
    • Over $7 billion in additional expenses per year 
  • Is the purpose of the education system to train the next generation or to provide jobs for bureaucrats?!?
  • Over the past 25(ish) years, the number of students has grown by about 30% while the number of bureaucrats has grown by OVER 450%.
  • If you simply held the number of bureaucrats in line with the number of students, you could give every teacher a $22k raise (or you could cut property taxes).
    • You could also eliminate the margins tax.
  • School district debt undermines Texas economy and will lead to higher taxes down the line.
  • Under the current system, school districts are building $60 million football stadiums.
  • Local debt growing 2.5x faster than population.
  • Vote no on just about every bond.
  • "As long as schools are run by political entities, they are a source of political power."
    Milton Friedman
  • "No entity deserves a protected monopoly on educating our kids."
  • "Politically administered adult jobs program."

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