Year after year, the tune is the same: “We need more money to pay our teachers what they are worth” or “we need more money to build a new school or addition.” Taxpayers are asked to give a little more–sometimes a lot more–to “give every child an opportunity to learn.”
Do We Need to Spend More?
We are told that the value of our homes might be adversely affected if we don’t “maintain the quality of our schools.” Spending, teacher salaries, and teacher-pupil ratios at our school are compared to those of other schools, and we always seem to be just a little below average, or about to slip back a place or two in the rankings . . . unless we spend more money.
Parents and taxpayers who speak out against higher taxes for public schools risk being called selfish, misinformed, or uncaring. In the public debate, the simplistic reasoning seems to be that support for better schools = support for higher spending, and vice versa.
In reality, there is a second choice: support for better schools = support for more efficient schools. Applying modern management techniques to public schools reveals many opportunities to improve the quality of public schools without spending more money, or even saving taxpayers’ money. Here are ten money-saving ideas that could be adopted by a typical school district.
10 Ways to Improve
1. Contract out for support services.
Private companies can operate cafeterias, provide school bus service, and maintain facilities and grounds more effectively and at a lower cost than school employees. These companies specialize in the services they perform and know how to deliver them efficiently. When they are local divisions of national firms, they often can use their bulk purchasing power to buy supplies and equipment at prices lower than what an individual school would have to pay.
2. Don’t custom-design schools.
New schools are usually custom designed for a school board. In the case of a large suburban school, architect’s fees alone may reach $1 million or more. But except for vanity, there is no reason why school districts should insist on custom-designed buildings. Simpler, “boiler-plate” designs cost as much as 30 percent less than their custom-built cousins, make superior use of available space, and are easier to maintain.
3. Hire teachers in private practice.
Some courses, such as advanced physics, calculus, and foreign languages, attract relatively small numbers of students and require highly paid teachers. Many schools hire full-time teachers capable of teaching these courses, and then have them spend much of their time teaching introductory classes or even managing study halls.
Instead, schools can contract with teachers in private practice for just those hours that are actually needed. Much like a lawyer or doctor, a teacher in private practice has multiple clients who are billed only for the time they actually require. The result is lower personnel expenses for the school, plus the services of a teacher the school might not be able to afford to hire full-time.
4. Reform the collective bargaining process.
Collective bargaining agreements and union contracts often make it extremely difficult and expensive to fire incompetent teachers. For example, in New York it costs nearly $200,000 on average to fire a tenured teacher who appeals. In New Jersey, it costs over $100,000, while in Illinois it takes three years and costs at least $70,000. All the while, the teacher remains on the school’s payroll.
State and local officials can reform the collective bargaining process to shorten the appeals process, saving a typical school district hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
5. Take advantage of distance learning technologies.
Schools can use computer-assisted learning programs to speed up the learning process while reducing the amount of time a teacher must devote to each student. CDs, interactive video, and the Internet make it possible for the country’s best teachers to appear simultaneously in hundreds of classrooms, and even to take questions and engage in discussion. These technologies are reducing the cost of schooling . . . yet many schools use the need to acquire computers and software as an excuse to call for higher spending!
6. Encourage charter schools.
Twenty states now have laws allowing parents to start their own schools and petition state or local authorities for public funding based on a per-pupil formula. These programs typically pay less than the current per-pupil spending level of the neighborhood public schools, so each student who transfers from a public school to a charter school saves the school district money.
Since charter schools seldom receive funding for capital costs, their presence also reduces the school district’s capital budget needs.
7. Encourage home schooling.
Research confirms that home-schooled students perform as well as or better than public school students on standardized tests and college entrance exams. Home-schooled students are admitted to college at rates equal to, and often better than, the rates for students taught in public schools. Home schooling is obviously a bargain for the school district, since every child who is home-schooled saves the school district the amount that otherwise would have been spent on a typical student.
School districts can encourage home schooling by informing parents of the opportunity, opening school facilities (such as libraries, gyms, and chemistry labs) to families that home school, and paying for some school expenses.
8. Place new schools at work sites.
For many families, a school located near a workplace or in a shopping mall would be more convenient than one located in a residential neighborhood. As the nation’s economy continues to move from manufacturing to services, more and more workplaces are in quiet, safe, and clean office buildings, perfect sites for schools.
Locating small schools in office buildings or shopping malls can significantly reduce capital, maintenance, and transportation costs. This option also creates opportunities for partnerships with employers that can enhance curriculum and further reduce operating expenses.
9. Encourage early graduation.
How many public schools aggressively challenge the notion that it should take the same number of years for an extremely bright child to earn a high school diploma as it does an average or slower student? Enabling the former to graduate in ten years instead of twelve saves the school 12.5 percent of the usual per-pupil cost.
The state of Minnesota has encouraged early college entrance for several years, with very positive results. Computer-assisted learning makes it even more likely that some part of the typical school body can master the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain a diploma in substantially less than the traditional 12 years.
10. Contract with private schools.
When Rod Paige, Superintendent of Schools for Houston, Texas, ran out of space for students, he didn’t ask taxpayers to pay for new schools. Instead, he contracted with a private school to enroll the overflow. Approximately 200 students now attend the private school, with the district paying $3,565 per pupil per year.
Other communities in Texas, Virginia, and New Jersey are contemplating doing the same thing. So long as parents are free to choose the schools their children attend, there is no constitutional barrier to participation by religious schools. Surveys show large majorities of parents favor school choice.
Every one of these recommendations has been tried and is working somewhere in the U.S. Why not encourage your local school board to try them in your school district?
