1. The Chicago Board of Education, which has 3,300 employees, is larger than the entire Japanese Ministry of Education. 2. The New York City public schools system has 250 times as many administrators as the New York Catholic school system (6,000 administrators in the public school system versus 24 in the Catholic school system), even though New York public schools have only four times as many students as the Catholic schools. In general, Catholic schools operate much more like private enterprises than unionized, public school monopolies, so it’s no surprise that Catholic schools don’t suffer from “administrative bloat” to the extent public schools do. https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/chart-of-the-day-administrative-bloat-in-us-public-schools/ Idk bruh. I don't have a break down of every one of these administrators and the value they bring to the system. I guess they are all super valuable and necessary because I lack that knowledge! You got me! Recognizing ineffiency in public spending is not a partisan issue but I guess you view everything through a partisan lense. Very sad.
AEI. Gee, and I wonder why I mentioned "partisan". Still no new solutions... but can you check with the AEI and who and how many they would suggest the Chicago and NYC school districts fire? Since that seems to be the solution you and them are presenting here.
The numbers are the numbers. Yea, administrative bloat is certainly a problem or do you not believe administrative bloat exists? That's just a made up thing?
I see over 1000 w2s every year. I'm just telling you the reality of what I see day in and day out about pay. You said most white collar jobs that require you to work after hours pays 6 figures, which just isn't true. You seem to think people make more than they do, which is hardly unusual. I have friends who think I'm rich. $100k is tough to crack even in the private world. And a superintendent is a teacher, just at the highest level of management. He taught business administration to start and worked his way up the system.
Yea, you're not arguing in good faith. You're trying to place the burden on me, to literally chart out and identify every specific example of ineffiency and waste in a $640 billion education system and how I would correct it. No one can do that. You know that BS and you're trying to say if I cannot do it, it doesn't exist and you know that's BS too. You do that for the defense budget. Oh right, you demur. How convenient.
Yea... the numbers are the numbers. Or, is it possible, the conservative AEI carefully cherry picked numbers to make their partisan point? But lets for the sake of this argument, that "the numbers are the numbers"... how many school administrators should the two large city school districts fire so they can be "efficient" just like the NY Catholic school? Can you ask the AEI?
It's not for the sake of argument. The numbers are the numbers. They aren't "cherry picked" those are how many administrators are employed. It's a matter of public record. Perhaps a properly constituted body can determine how many are superfluous. Looks like there's plenty of room to trim.
I am not sure, but the AEI might want to check their "numbers"... there are 172 schools in the NY Catholic Diocese and 53,000 students while the NY public school system has 1,800 schools and 1,100,000 students. Maybe my math is off (after all, I went to public schools and my partisan lens) but 1,100,000 is a bit more than 4 times 53,000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Department_of_Education https://catholicschoolsny.org/about-us/
I'm a POS? Wow, sounds like someone's fweelings are getting butthurt. But I digress. You are claiming that "waste" is occurring in public schools. And citing a 40 year old study and the conservative AEI you have narrowed that waste to school administration. I'm simply questioning your sources and challenging you to own the argument you seem to be making (poorly, mind you) to identify that waste and how you would fix it. Apparently, you can't do it. And defense spending? I don't think defense spending should be cut. I favor a strong military. Why you should bring that up in a discussion about education... who knows.
Do you believe waste, fraud, misallocation of funds and inefficiency occur in public education spending in the United States (athletics aside)? Yes, you are a pos, actually your posts are full of unnecessary insults, ridicule and contempt. You're a dick. If you don't think there is fraud, waste and inefficiency in our education system and you need someone to prove it to you with specific examples and solutions, you're an idiot. If you think an $800 biliion dollar military budget isn't full of fraud, waste and inefficiency and is in the national interest, you're an even bigger idiot.
There is definitely wasteful spending by the government..... but then again their is wasteful spending in the private sector as well. The reality is that we as a species are not terribly efficient and that isn't always a bad thing. I am sure that there are funds being spent in education that would be more efficient if spent elsewhere on other areas of education.... but that doesn't mean government spending isn't a fruitful or necessary endeavor. I find that when it comes to this topic people are too absolute and extreme...... yes their is waste, and no it doesn't mean we should shut everything the government touches down.
There will always be inefficiencies in system. That's just a part of having a system. I just think we spend $640 billion a year on education. We spend the 2nd most per pupil in the world. There's places where teachers aren't being paid enough, places where teachers are buying supplies for their classrooms but I don't think there is a shortage of funds. I think those facts indicate the system doesn't do a good job of allocating the resources at its disposal. How to specifically identify and address those inefficiencies is, obviously, very difficult and no one person is going to have the answer and to expect one of them is disingenuous and asinine. I certainly don't want to shut down public education. I want public education to be a better steward of the $640 billion it gets every year. Also, how dare you assert waste occurs with citing specific examples. Unless I see some specific examples, it clearly doesn't occur.
I can tell you that there are a number of studies (no not looking them up now) that point to a cultural issue with why our educational performance isn't better, and not that the total amount spent. There were some calls to increase spending on teachers though, and decrease in other areas of education.
The article below is from the well regarded Texas Tribune, a non-profit newspaper. It's from their "Texplainer" series, where they answer questions from readers. Enjoy. Texas teachers' pay is average. But their pensions are among the lowest in the country. Benefits for Texas teachers have been a point of contention between educators and lawmakers for years — and often a hot topic at the Legislature. But where does Texas fall nationally when it comes to teacher pay, health care and retirement benefits? BY ALEX SAMUELS APRIL 20, 201812 AM CENTRAL How do employment benefits for Texas educators compare to those in other states? This question has been a point of contention between lawmakers and educators for many years. Texas teachers say they’re frustrated due to a lack of state funding for public education. But lawmakers say the uncertainty surrounding the budget makes it hard to allocate better benefits for educators. If you look at the raw numbers, Texas ranked 27th in the nation for teacher pay in 2016, according to the National Education Association. On average, Texas teachers earned $51,890 — roughly $6,500 below the national average. However, teachers have long argued that inadequate funding for public schools cuts into their salaries. During the 2008 fiscal year, the state covered roughly 48.5 percent of the cost of public education, according to the Legislative Budget Board. By the 2019 fiscal year, that figure will be closer to 38 percent. Over the same period, teacher salaries remained about the same (Texas teachers, on average, earned roughly $47,000 in 2008). “One of the biggest costs to education are the teachers and other employees at a school district. That’s the biggest cost to the state,” said Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association. “When you start cutting education in Texas, you’re shortchanging teachers. We’re already behind the national average when it comes to teacher pay, and we’re getting further behind.” But salaries aren’t the only component to consider when looking at how Texas teachers fare compared to their peers in other states, said Ed Allen with the American Federation of Teachers. “When looking at a nationwide comparison, most people factor in the salaries. But when teachers get older, what’s being paid into retirement and the health insurance becomes a really big deal,” Allen said. When it comes to health care benefits, advocates say Texas teachers are stuck in 2002. That’s when state lawmakers created the plan known as TRS-ActiveCare. The teacher health insurance program, which is run by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, requires the state to contribute $75 per employee toward monthly health care premiums. Nearly 430,000 public school teachers and retirees are covered under the plan, which is used by many of the state’s 1,200-plus school districts. Since the program went into effect, employees’ share of premiums have more than doubled, while the state’s contribution to teacher’s health care has remained the same. “When your salary is barely going up year after year, health care costs are going up considerably and you’re not getting any additional money put toward those healthcare cost by your employer — which is the state in this case — then effectively you’re taking a year over year cut to your salary,” said Monty Exter, a lobbyist at the Association of Texas Professional Educators. Under the TRS-ActiveCare program, districts are also required to put a minimum of $150 per employee per month toward health insurance premiums, with the option of contributing more. But Exter said that can be difficult for districts as education budgets are squeezed. Joel Solomon, a senior policy analyst with the National Education Association, said it’s hard to compare Texas teacher health insurance programs to other states since the structure of such programs varies nationwide. But, he said, “when we look at educators’ health benefits around the country and how important … ensuring quality health benefits to educators are, what we see in Texas is deeply troubling.” When it comes to retirement funding, a majority of states pay into both a pension plan and Social Security. Texas is in the minority of states that only pays into a pension fund and does not pay into Social Security for the majority of its teachers — which means most Texas teachers won’t have access to Social Security benefits when they retire. Fewer than 50 of the state’s districts participate in Social Security on their own. Among states that only offer a pension plan for teachers, Texas is dead last when it comes to funding its pension programs — by a lot. For years, Texas only paid 6 percent — the constitutional minimum — into the Teacher Retirement System. It now pays 6.8 percent, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. And the Texas Constitution says the state's contributions to pension funds can’t eclipse 10 percent without a constitutional amendment approved by voters. “The next closest non-Social Security state had a retirement contribution rate at least double ours,” said Ann Fickel, the associate executive director of the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. The median contribution for the other 14 other states that don’t pay into Social Security for their teachers is around 18 percent, she added. “As retirees’ costs rise, especially for medical care, there will be pressure on lawmakers to find a way to increase benefits for retired teachers,” Fickel said. The bottom line: When it comes to teacher pay, Texas ranked 27th in the nation — right around the middle. But Texas is dead last in teacher retirement funding and puts a little more than the minimum into the Teacher Retirement System. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/0...ployee-benefits-dead-last-retirement-funding/ Disclosure: The Texas State Teachers, the Association Association of Texas Professional Educators and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Retirement funding talk started here. What is the take away for me from this article? It doesn't address how a teachers pension is calculated or what an average pension benefit is or anything like that. It criticizes the legislature for not putting enough funding towards the pension plan correct? Have teachers not been receiving their promised benefits? Will they soon stop receiving their promised benefits? What are the ramifications here? It's not readily apparent to me.
All large organizations, companies and government agencies have waste, fraud, misallocation of funds and inefficiencies. But you can't seem to identify any in public schools. Instead, you source 40 year old studies and inaccurate partisan studies. And pro-tip: The fact that you can't get through a paragraph without resorting to childish name-calling is a sign you need to step away from the computer and take a break.
the pension is calculated as a percentage of your top 3 highest years wages. the percentage is based on the number of years you worked as a teacher. So after 27 years and a masters degree, my wife will receive about $2500 a month BEFORE taxes. Teachers in Texas Retirement Plan are not eligible to receive social security so unless she invested somewhere else as well, that's all she'll receive. I'll get more through social security than she'll get with her pension. Teacher benefits are terrible. We take all our benefits through my job because my wifes are laughable.
