Main Street Journal: On the River: Competition or More of the Same?

The following article is taken from the March 2009 issue of the Main Street Journal. Click “Subscribe Online” above to start your subscription.

On the River: Competition or More of the Same?
By: Joe Saino

Locally, there is not a more discussed and contentious issue then education. The subjects are funding, the success or failure of that education and what should be done to make it better and more efficient. I have been studying this issue for a number of years and have tried to penetrate the protective bureaucratic screen through open records requests and on site visits. I have requested salary and benefit information about all the various job titles and have finally gotten grudging cooperation from the Memphis City Schools (MCS) and the Shelby County School s (SCS). I visited the MCS Nutrition Center but before the scandals concerning loss of food and illegal catering.

There are many obvious problems that have contributed to the sorry state of local public education. The basic core problem is family related in that the children come to the classroom door unprepared, by the family experience, to learn. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be raised in a loving close knit two parent family realize how fortunate we were regardless of the family’s economic situation. If our parents were well educated or valued education, that was an additional plus factor. Therefore we cannot blame those children who were not so blessed. But what can we do to try to make up for this deficient background?

The education establishment will tell us that they need more money. The United States has been throwing more money at this problem for years and nothing seems to improve the product that comes out the graduation door. The teachers’ union has cooperated with the politicians to pass what is called the Maintenance of Effort Law that does not allow any reduction of education spending unless the number of students declines. This, of course, kills any incentive to promote efficiency. This raises the question of “Is the school system about education or is it about jobs?”. Locally we are talking about over 20,000 jobs.

In answering this question, I have looked at a number of education alternatives. The private school option is obvious but expensive as parents must still pay for public schools and also their private school alternative. Obviously they think it is worth it. For those who cannot afford this dual system or for other reasons, there is the home schooling option. I have talked to a number of parents who have gone down this path and while they admit it is difficult, they think it is worth the effort and the results seems to bear them out.

Then there are the religious schools like the Roman Catholic Jubilee Schools. The results here are remarkable both in cost per student (about half of the public school cost) and the results which rival private school efforts. Locally, through private donations, they have taken students from the same student population that go to public schools and through discipline and skill, have achieved remarkable results compared to the public school results.

Finally, I have come to the obvious conclusion that many have, but which many politicians consider the electrified third rail, vouchers and competition. We need to allow education vouchers which would give the choice to parents of public school children up to one half of the cost of public education to be spent on qualified and certified private schools. The other half of the money would stay with the public school system thus increasing the money available per student. After eight years, the results should be compared. Did the children with more money do better than those who chose to do with less money but more freedom and competition. It would be a fascinating project.

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