(Below is an article published in the Idaho Statesman by Leslie Mauldin who serves on the Board of Directors for Idahoans for Choice in Education).
It is time for Idaho to increase public school options. Because education monies are an investment in Idaho’s future, the stakeholders – taxpayers, parents, and policymakers- should have an interest in the return on investment. Parents and children are the consumers of our taxpayer supported public education, not recipients of a charitable grant.
With recent budget cuts, a maximum return on investment – meaning a competitive education for the children of Idaho – is more vital than ever. Is money the only way to improve education? Not according to Jay P. Greene, educational analyst and author of Education Myths, who points out that “”If money were the solution, the problem would already be solved … We’ve doubled per pupil spending, adjusting for inflation, over the last 30 years, and yet schools aren’t better.”
In fact, limiting school choice may be more relevant to the problem than budget cuts. The US is among the four HIGHEST SPENDERS on education, delivering 34th internationally in education results. According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) fully 70 percent of the countries that recently outperformed the United States in combined math and science literacy among 15-year-olds had more school choice. It should come as no surprise, then, that the current and the past four U.S. Presidencies representing both major political parties, have all spoken in support of expanded educational choice.
In 2008, a Friedman Foundation survey indicated that the vast majority of Idaho voters support school choice. However, recently proposed legislation meant to expand charter schools and choice in Idaho was halted. Why? Because nationally and locally, proponents of protecting the status quo in education have deep pockets and political resources to fight against education choice. Their actions have been compared to the carnival game “Whack-a Mole.” Whenever good options emerge, they whack the mallet down. Parental choice? WHACK! Charter schools? WHACK! Virtual schooling? WHACK! Removing the cap? WHACK!
Increasing education freedom is one of the most practical and fiscally responsible ways for policymakers to improve the quality of education. Simply providing families with additional options in the education of their children has a larger independent effect on student achievement than increasing education spending. As consumers of public education, Idaho taxpayers should applaud and support policymakers that are fighting for what works – more public school options, not less.
Leslie Mauldin
President, Coalition of Idaho Charter School Families
Director, Idahoans for Choice in Education
Idaho school districts will receive $51 million to help offset the reduced appropriation from the last legislative session. Many school districts and all of our charter schools have found ways to deal with that shortfall WITHOUT the aid of the federal government. Provided below are the estimated federal funds for a few of the local school districts:
Nampa………………..$2.54 million
Caldwell………………$1.1 million
Vallivue……………….$1.16 million
Boise……………………$4.58 million
Meridian………………$5.96 million
Now that the districts know the specifics, what will they do? State Superintendent Luna suggests that they spend that money carefully, Governor Otter suggests that they “sock some of it away for the future.” Not only should the districts be careful and perhaps save some of it, those districts that received approval from the electorate for a healthy supplemental tax increase should reduce that levy in proportion to the federal funds received. The property taxpayers need relief too and this windfall from the feds make that relief possible.
The Homedale school district recently set a good example for others to follow when they cancelled a proposed supplemental levy election when they were informed that they were to receive some federal dollars. That decision is a good example for others to follow.
Idaho government schools are scheduled to receive $51 million from the federal government to lessen the impact of $128 million budget cut from the state Legislature.
The cut caused school district superintendents and school boards to take a good look at their expenditures and find ways to economize. That’s a good thing. Some school districts, while making some cuts in expenditures, believed that their only solution was to go to the property taxpayer and either seek a new supplemental levy or to increase what currently exists. The Caldwell School District for example, asked for and received approval from the voters to increase their supplemental levy by a whopping 70 percent. read more…
A recent article in the Idaho Statesman makes one wonder who is running the show over in the Meridian School District. This year, parents and students are being presented with a complicated scheduling regimen designed to, well, just be complicated. According to the Statesman article, every Wednesday all district schools will start 15 minutes later. All buses will operate on that day 15 minutes later and all students commuting to school by walking or other means should plan to arrive at school 15 minutes later as well. So basically, for just one day a week, parents will be expected to get their children up later and show up for work later, and everyone — from siblings to employers — will have to work around the new schedule. read more…
Idaho newspaper opinion writers are at it again. Recently, the Idaho Statesman, Lewiston Tribune and Twin Falls Times News published commentaries lamenting Idaho’s decision to cut $128 million from the state’s public school system and the fact that Idaho spends less per pupil than most school systems nationwide.
The commentaries say nothing about student achievement, only spending. Isn’t student achievement the single most important measure of a state’s school system? And yet Idaho’s editorial writers make no mention of it whatsoever.
read more…
Ralph Smeed is well known in Idaho and nationally as a champion of freedom — someone who, as he puts it, fights to “make statism unpopular.” What’s less known, but equally true, is that Ralph is one of the nation’s strongest supporters of expanding and promoting choice in public education. You see, Ralph understands the positive impact freedom and free markets have had on our public schools. The freedom for parents and students to pick the school that best meets their needs is an extraordinarily powerful thing. When schools don’t need to work hard in order to attract students, mediocrity sets in. Taxpayers wind up paying for underperforming schools. But when parents and students can pick where they’re educated — when schools compete for students — all schools must be at their best.
Ralph has long understood the power of school choice. He’s quite passionate about it and was early to lend his support to the charter school movement. He became a director of the Political Action Committee Idahoans for School Choice. Unlike many of the school choice supporters, Ralph went the extra mile to get Thomas Jefferson Charter School in Caldwell, up and running. In fact, it is not a “stretch” to say that Thomas Jefferson Charter School would not exist today without the help of Ralph Smeed. He provided nearly one million dollars of prime real estate for that school. That donation of land provided the necessary support for that wonderful facility that today is home to one of Idaho’s premier charter schools.
Ralph is at a Texas clinic undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Hundreds of parents, students and staff are grateful for Ralph’s support and we all wish him a speedy recovery.
How should the State Board of Education deal with the Nampa Classical Academy’s appeal for continued operation? Perhaps that decision is not as tough as many perceive it to be. Further, does NCA’s troubles really harm the charter school movement in Idaho? I don’t think so.
One of the main selling points for offering charter schools in Idaho was the fact that if a charter school failed to perform satisfactorily academically or fiscally, the school could have its charter revoked. I didn’t consider that a bad thing in 1998 when the charter school legislation first passed, and I don’t consider it a bad thing today.
Recently, this newspaper published a letter from Patti Moylan, a middle school teacher from Caldwell in which she challenged Wayne Hoffman, the head of the Idaho Freedom Foundation and author of frequent articles that appear in this and other papers around the state. Moylan said Hoffman should teach her class for a day. In her letter she provides a warning to Hoffman in that he will face 125-130 students for 7 periods, teaching them composition and literature and that many of them come to the classroom each day with assorted issues ranging from hunger to abuse. read more…
As we get closer to the November election and the 2011 legislative session, most of the politicos are calling education spending the fundamental issue. Yes, education spending, not education improvement. The Democratic candidate for Governor, Keith Allred has criticized the Republican-controlled Legislature and Governor Otter for cutting government education funding. Even some of the Republican legislators are taking the “bait” and calling for a tax increase to restore k-12 education funding to pre FY 2011 levels. So, politically, it is all about education spending. What else is new? read more…
School districts across the state are all preparing their budgets for the 2010/2011 school year by turning to a familiar play from a familiar playbook. In government parlance, it’s known as the Washington Monument game. The analogy harkens back to a time when Congress threatened to cut the National Park Service, and so the Park Service responded by saying, “that’s no problem, Congress. We’ll just have to shut down the Washington Monument.” Cue the outrage from the public. read more…
