What happens to a small town in Idaho whose residents love their public school, support it, paint the building, fix it up, tax themselves to pay for it, but is suffering because of state budget cuts? Raise taxes? Well, they are already paying 17 times the rate of the state’s wealthy districts. Because of its low property values, it can’t squeeze out enough to keep up with expenses. Meanwhile, the state wants to put everyone in online classes. That won’t help this school. It will still have the same bills to pay.
This is one of the saddest stories I read this week.
Why do so-called reformers avoid any discussion of how to help districts that don’t have a big enough tax base to support the school they love?
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is the story of many rural schools all across the nation. We tax ourselves above the state averages to keep what we love!!
This is the story of schools districts–rural and suburban–across the country that rely heavily on state and federal funds for their budgets. Small rural districts worry how they will offer required courses so students can graduate. New York State wants to force a merger of districts to avoid duplication of services and has placed a cap on property taxes to ease the burden on residents. Sounds good on paper until one looks at fuel costs to transport students, the length of time students will spend on school buses, or the fact that mergers may cross county lines. Poorer large suburban districts–and they do occur–now force students to travel from their home school to another school in the day to complete courses in their major. Limiting the amount of income districts can generate through property taxes means that limiting 2013 budgets to the amount of money spent in 2012 really means a cut in funding to schools. I am appalled at what is happening in New York State, once considered at the top of the list in educating students. I was angered at Governor Cuomo’s comments prior to presenting the state budget, claiming that school districts had deep pockets of money into which they must tap. Perhaps in Westchester county…
I just pulled up the data on Idaho and was curious why some data said: “market value and property taxes and unpublished tax commission data”. Why is this information unpublished, and how did the citizens in this group obtain this data? Isn’t all tax data published in all states, or made available to citizens on request? Is more money going to fund the charter schools than the regular public schools in Idaho? In Arizona, the charter schools get $1,500.00 more per student per year than regular public schools. The claim is that the charter schools are not included in providing state building funds, so the $1,500.00 per student annually is logical to some. Many questions need to be asked and funding reports need to be available to all citizens in every state.
While you are not a fan of charter schools, I believe that this one time a charter school might be a good thing. Rural Wilson Center in Kansas doubled its population size from going from a small rural public school to an agricultural charter school, and leveraged funds from corporate sponsors in the process.
I disagree. The charter school would need as much funding as the public school and the money wouldn’t be there. The foundations don’t care about rural education. Why would they add money to this little district in Idaho? If they can’t afford a public school, why would they be able to afford a charter school? Would everyone in the community go to it? What’s the point of abandoning public education?
To RCSmith: If you turn your tax supported schools over to corporate sponsors, in the process you lose your local representative government. The corporate sponsors control all aspects of your public school/s-plus they will train your children for whatever the global economy dictates. I suggest, there will be no upward mobality for your children in that area of Kansas or anywhere else in the USA. These charter schools destroy the “American Dream”. There is an old song that goes something like this: “I owe my soul to the company store”. Don’t allow the multi national corporations to do this to our children and destroy their American Dream! We must, if we are to prevail as a nation, at least give every child the equal opportunity to achieve in the American Dream.
Charter/Choice/Voucher schools destroy the American Dream. Not only that- they destroy representative government e. g. local school boards and local representation. This is taxation without representation. We fought a war of independence for that principle. Why have Americans forgotten that?
The public schools in my neck of the woods are already controlled by the corporations! Corporations, backed by Chamber of Commerce and Economic Councils, control what IS taught at all levels from K-12th grade. The local leader is pushing for better testing, more often, in our public schools. Why? They don’t have kids who outscore the Chinese. The local leader just came from China, where the economy is “booming” according to his words. Read Dumbing Down of Education. America’s corporations own public and charter schools.
Side Note: Many companies give to Catholic and christian schools, yet parents, not corporations, control their school.
I find the above comment amazing. The concept of full employment is a Communist belief, so it is no wonder that the “economy is ‘booming’.” in China. Along with the booming economy comes slave labor; many of whom are small children working in the fields and factories. Child labor was outlawed in the USA mainly due to the effort of unions. One may not like unions, especially teacher unions, but let us not return to previous abuses, or the Chinese system of schools and full employment.
One can only wonder about their “leader” and why he wants more tests. Nothing is mentioned about the leader being an educator. The people in Kansas should run these outsiders out of their state, and send their leader back to China to remain there.
It was interesting to note that corporations, Chamber of Commerce and Economic Councils are running their schools. No doubt to train young children for the planned global workforce. See the School-To-Work Act passed by the same people responsible for destroying the people’s schools. You will note that no reference is made to local schools boards as representatives of the people. Get rid of the rest of our good teachers and replace them with uncertified people is what is happening in the charter schools.
Of course, it dosen’t take a college degree to teach shoveling manure. One of the objectives listed in School-To-Work is one holds the shovel and the other rakes it in. I’m not putting you on; this is actually stated as one objective! So tragic, it is humorous.
This type of educational objective can certainly account for full employment and the booming economy in China. Now, back to the teachers.
The lumping of all teachers into one mold of inferiority is a political ploy to strip all teachers of due process. Arizona is a right to work state, yet we see the ALEC and Heritage Foundation types trying to do away with tenure-everywhere. I even read on one web where one of the snake oil peddlers said “tenure guarentees a job for life”. That is a big lie! She is one of the movers and shakers behind privatizing. She intends to raise five billion dollars over the next five years to further that goal, or so she said.
No doubt, she will be named to the next president’s advisory council regardless of who is elected. More tests and the Chinese “booming” economy is really more that I can tolerate on Memorial Day. Let us remember those who gave their lives so we may remain free. Benjamin Franklin said, “We have given you a Republic, if you can keep it”. Can we?
The militarism of the US, and Banks, have created this truly sad situation. Our protests for saving public education must broaden and converge with Occupy Wall Street and other movements for fairness, equality, our very freedom as citizens of America.
After a lengthy comment, I began to read the comments given before mine. I hit the delete button as those comments tell the story from those who are living this truly sad reality. Better than I could. Our Save Our Schools activism, our “movement,” needs to move forward into increasingly massive action. It should converge with other movements which promote our constitutional guarantees, free public education being one. Converge with the Occupy Wall Street movement, as it is the corporate owned government, the BIG BANKS, that are the greatest barrier to a new rebirth of equality, liberties, and our basic freedoms which diminish with each corporate buyout that privatizes profit at the expense of the public. At the expense of our children’s future. They will not even inherit the wind. All the wind and water will become a private good. We are becoming the inheritors of Chris Hedge’s Colonial Corporatism.