About a year ago I wrote a post for our school district in Romeo, Michigan called, “5 Money Saving Ideas for RCS.” (Romeo Community Schools) Of course, it fell on deaf ears as they approved a budget that spent money the district didn’t have.
So here they are, a year later, and that budget exploded from their lack of foresight. The things I stood up and asked about 18 months ago have all come true:
- Declining home prices in the area means less tax raveneue, which means few dollars for the district.
- Hundreds of families (including my own) moved from Michigan to other states. That means, fewer students to educate, and fewer dollars for the district from the State of Michigan.
- The teacher’s union successfully negotiated for a contract which guaranteed money that didn’t exist. While the district deficit spent during the wealthiest 10 years in the town’s history… it was ill-prepared for the bubble to burst.
- The district spent $300,000 on a master plan which banked on 20 more years of growth. When in fact, the entire economy was built around the Ford Plant… a plant which produced an engine dealers couldn’t give away, much less sell. (The Ford F-150)
So, it’s with great sadness that I’m observing (from afar) the district on the verge of collapse. Test scores are diving, enrollment is diving, and maintanence/staffing costs are soaring. The next 12 months will see more of the same together with the loss of schools, lay-off’s of teaching staff, and the cessation of many of the things which attracted parents to the district in the first place.
So, here’s the point:
Nationwide, it is time to fundamentally change how education is funded. While teacher unions hold onto a 1980′s mindset (where 90% or more is spent on staffing), charter schools spring up everywhere. My children attend a non-union charter school… not only are they getting a fantastic education, they are doing it in a fiscally responsible way. Two things that teacher unions promise can’t happen in a non-union environment. I join the President in calling for more charter schools. In the end, this means that less funding should go to the district model of education and more to local charter schools.
Health care for teachers needs to be funded by the states. In fact, give them the same plans the state uses for the rest of its employees as they work for the state by proxy anyway. (Their credential comes from the state, the funding for their salaries comes from the state, testing is controlled by the state, etc.)
Right-to-work should be law for all state-funded employees. Just like the unions have broken (financially) the auto-industry in America, they are breaking the financial back of schools. It’s time to allow teachers, administrators, and other school employees to chose whether or not they will participate in a union. Forcing them to be a part of this relic from the 1930s-1950s is contrary to the free society our nation creates. Conditions which lead to the rise of unions a generation ago are not the same, it’s time to move on.
If anyone should organize in districts around the country it is parents and teachers. They should demand that more of the school funding go to educating children.
