Education Funding: No, It's Never Enough

NY Gov. Paterson Cuts School Payments by $500 Million, Everyone Sues



Some of you may think that the title of this post is a good thing, but there are limitations. The more we see from NY Governor David Paterson, the more we like him - not enough to vote for him, but he's got brass ones for sure... As Lester Burnham was told, 'You obviously have no desire to save yourself.'




For those who don't know, the State of New York is in a financial mess.... No, it's not in the $44 Billion hole that California was in, but $5 billion is still pretty bad. And you guys in SC thought that $700 million sucked.... The state will be out of cash by late December, so Paterson did what he felt was needed - cutting the budget, even from Education. You'd think that in a state where about $20,000 a chid spending is not uncommon, they'd take the hit, and move on - but think again.........





Administrators, kids and parents are all screaming bloody murder over the 10% cut in payments and property tax reimbursements to schools. Before you think that's a ton of cash, put it in perspective: it's not a total 10% cut, it's just cuts to two select funding mechanisms, and the state is talking mostly about delaying payments, not eliminating them. Also, here is an example of the actual minuteness of the cut: Middle Country District here has 11,000 kids, and a budget of $200 million. That's ONE AVERAGE district, which gets $19,000 per student, but can't seem to trim the fat? C'mon... BTW, in today's paper, that district is being questioned about excessive reserves, while another school puts a bond referendum to add a 42,000 sq ft artificial turf field on campus....




Does Astroturf make for a smarter kid? Shit no... Better teachers do, and the New York system pays and insures them all to the hilt. This is an example of education funding run amok... Does South Carolina spend enough on its kids' education? Probably not, but until they can figure out how to put it towards EDUCATING, and not into palatial campuses or adminstrative costs, I'd be a bit more inquisitive about where the money is going, rather than issuing a blank check, with "It's For The Kids" on the memo notes.....



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