kootchman
ha ha ha ha…. yea I buy the critter her books.. used. About 200 – 400 per year. the average SPS child has a state attachment of 13,141,19 … “highly capable” get another 400. so about 13,600. Not only does she pay for her own yearbook, varsity jacket, .. so if they got the full voucher…. they might have to come up with $50 per month….. oh wait… 25% of the students receive income adjusted scholarships. Done specifically to insure a diversity mix where income may inhibit of a diverse student body. Now here is the comparative data.. this is SPS
Less than 36% of 8th graders have achieved grade-level proficiency in math and reading on the NAEP, the national “gold-standard” for assessing student achievement.
About one-third of public high school students fails to graduate from high school.
Over half (52 percent) of students entering community or technical colleges have to take remedial math, English or reading courses to catch up. 37 percent of stduents entering our two-year and four-year collegs must take remedial math or English courses.
My daughters class in 5th grade I believe. 98% of. every single student was proficient in reading and writing. And those that weren’t had a reading speciality instructor. So, as a parent.. given the choice of getting a voucher.. graduating 100% of the freshman class with 88 per cent getting scholarships or getting the results listed above.. how many would take the voucher?
Here’s the bottom line… HNA, Prepm Bellarmine, … et al… have to attract, and retain their students. Ineffective instructors don’t have tenure.. they finish out their contract and it is not renewed. Are their superlative SPS teachers.. ? Hell yes.. great ones. But no merit pay, and they have to live with tenured space fillers, who drag down their fellow teachers and send out a message of resigned mediocrity to their students.
Take a chance people… we have had 40 years of this… increasing funds.. and we are stalled. SAT scores have not improved. EA designed the WASL… and instead of reaching for the goal.. they dropped it in less than three years we had a saying in the Coprs..aim low.. shoot low. JoB thinks money is the answer… that is NOT my experience. And I support BOTH systems… where do I put extras? where it gets the biggest bang for the buck.. parochial schools. That k-8 uniform thing? Saves parents hundreds.. ya got the basic skirt, blouse, sweatshirt, khaki pants… it’s egalitarian and cheaper. Ever k-8 kid brings in a couple of reams of paper, hand cleaner, toilet paper, pencils and pens, emergency disaster food pack, space blanket, et al… no, our teachers do not buy supplies.
In the end.. you measure outcomes.