According to real world numbers (instead of those fake numbers the bureaucrats hand out), something like twenty-eight out of every hundred eligible public high school students in the State of Florida will fail to graduate this year.
Every one of those kids who drops out will be eight times more likely to land in prison than a kid who gets a diploma.
And we will spend $22,600 in taxes per year for every prison inmate … as compared to the $8,578 (Source: FLDOE, School year 2009-10 – latest available figure) we now pay to educate a public school student for a year.
Those are unacceptable numbers.
Our national investment in education is not paying off the way it should. We need to face the fact that we don’t really have a public school “system” in this country. What we have is a public school crisis.
Having said that, I come to the part that some people don’t want me to mention. P.R. won’t fix this crisis … and neither will Federal dollars.
What will actually fix this problem? Something that pisses the teachers unions off every single time I bring it up: direct private-sector involvement. That works.
There are private educational management companies that have a great track record of turning around failing schools. But the national teachers union doesn’t want you to know those companies exist.
They don’t want you to know about the awards many of these companies have earned for their commitment to excellence in education. Or, the great teachers they hire. Or, the cutting-edge technology those teachers use to engage and motivate students.
Many of these companies can deliver higher graduation rates … at a dramatically lower cost to taxpayers.
So why doesn’t the teachers union want you to know about any of that? Because many of these firms– Charter Schools USA for instance — have the outrageous idea that teachers who can’t do their job should be fired, quick. Charter Schools USA works on a one-year contract system. If you screw up, you’re gone. Period.
If you ask me, that’s the way every public school in this country ought to operate.
LINKS:
Tampa Bay Times: Florida graduation rates soar, but there’s a catch
Charter Schools USA: About – Performance Overview
Charter Schools USA
