[quote author="no_vaseline" date=1217898086][quote author="awgee" date=1217889609]<em>"The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality."</em> - H.L. Mencken
Just something to think about.</blockquote>
I wholeheartedly disagree.
If a child is bound and determined to be a sheep, they'll be a sheep. More often than not, the parent at home wants them to be a sheep. I'm with blk when he says that a medium/high achieving student is better served in a worse school than a good school because it's easier to stand out. But that's a different discussion for a different thead.
Lets talk class sizes and staffing levels and ratios.
In 1976, the elementary school I went to had two classes per grade K-6, and a class size about 25. That's twelve teachers and six aides (half a day per teacher). It also had a full time school nurse, a head custodian and two assistant custodians, three lunch ladies, a full time speach pathologist, a principal, and two secretaries. 11 staff, 14 teachers, and 6 teachers aids(full time). We also had two teachers dedicated to the MGM program, but they weren't teachers, so there's another 2 admin.
(Are teachers aids admin or teaching staff? I think only teachers count as teachers, everybody else is admin).
By 1978, prop 13 had passed. We now had 28 students per class, twelve teachers, a principal, one secretary, and two custodians, and three lunch ladies, and two teachers aides for grades K and 1 (part time). The sole remaining Nurse worked for the district and was responsible for 9 campuses. 14 teachers, 2 aids (part time), 7 admin.
And then it got worse. By the time 1982 got around, we were 35-37 deep in class sizes with the same staffing.
They have not, to my knowlege, radically increased staffing since then. So, who do you lay off if you want to cut back 50% of admin?
You need a principal (1).
You need somebody to perform custodian stuff (2).
You need a couple of lunch ladies (3).
You need somebody to answer the phone and do admin(1).
Do you ask the teachers to come clean thier own rooms?
Do you ask the principal to put in more than the 70 hours he's currently doing (I know a couple, this is pretty standard)?
Do you close the cafeteria and violate federal mandates for school lunches?
Do you stop answering the office phone?
This ignores all the extra stuff schools are asked to do now (Megans law compliance, the whole No Child Left Behind drama). More unfunded mandates.
I'd argue you already got your 50% reduction in staff. It happened in 1977. The fat left in 1976 when Prop 13 passed.
The only solution to increase efficenticy in public schools is to increase class sizes. For real. It is the only actionable cost reducer you can do. Oh wait. We've voted in manditory class size maximums so we can't do that. Another voter driven mandate that ties the hands of Sacramento and local school officals.
You notice the luster has come off of Greenlight and the other private charter school groups? Notice they can't get thier costs in line either? Hmmnnnnnn............
I often wonder who'd want to be a teacher these days. I look at potential teachers candidates the same way I look at politicians. Why would any sane person want this crap job?</blockquote>
Many good points still the question stands: the difference between Santa Ana USD and Irvine USD performance is what?
Why does IUSD work and LAUSD doesn't?