Theft at the Public Till
the public high schools? The wealthy can flee dysfunctional and dangerous public schools, and have been doing so for years. The poor are left behind to take their chances, all in the name of “saving the public schools” -- meaning, saving the jobs of the people who run them. The public-school interest groups - teachers’ unions, principals’ associa- tions, school boards’ groups -- argue that their claim on taxpayers’ money is in the national interest. But, like so many monopoly franchises, this one serves its holders better than its captives. It also resembles other monopolies in its black-hole-like ability to suck in money without noticeably improv- ing performance. Over the entire period since World War II, spending per public-school student, after adjusting for inflation, has increased about 40 percent a decade, doubling every twenty years. Average class sizes have fallen; more teachers hold masters’ degrees, but the quality of education has dropped. Almost half of the money that New York City spends in its public school system is consumed in costs other than direct instruction -guidance and attendance counselors, maintenance workers, security guards, and- other personnel as well as transportation and security. Does anyone truly believe these administrative costs serve to enhance the quality of education? Or are they just an excuse to provide thousands of high-paying jobs? If you were told that an ambitious politician wanted to create a project that would have a half billion-dollar cost overrun, fewer facilities than the project it was replacing, located further from the town it serves than an existing facility, and likely to be a drain on the community’s resources for the next twenty years, would you be surprised? Would you vote for it? If your tax dollars were involved would you want the opportunity to vote for it? Or against it? Such was the non-choice faced by Coloradoans in the early 1990’s. Welcome to the Denver International Airport, a much heralded facility which was designed to make Denver the gateway to the Rockies. (I had always thought Denver was the gateway to the Rockies - I guess I had foreshadowings of this airport thirty years before its time.) The airport opened more than one year behind schedule, was more than $500 million more expensive than planned, and featured new technology that simply didn’t work (you really did not want those checked bags back now did you?).
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