[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Closing Costs

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Closing Costs
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1212808102.shtml


   We see public schools closing in districts throughout the area these
   days, often as budget cuts. A savings per building is projected. I
   wonder how accurate those guesses are.
   For yes, they are really just guesses. You can quantify the outright
   cuts in teachers, janitors, cooks, and the principal. But quantifying
   the incremental additions to the remaining buildings and staff is more
   problematic.
   It is also static analysis against multi-year trends in demographics
   and enrollment. And both of those are affected by home buying
   decisions influenced by the presence or absence of neighborhood
   schools.
   This is a skill for which we can hardly expect or want school
   districts to have expertise. But we should at least run the numbers
   after the fact to see what indeed happened, detail by detail. I have a
   suspicion that not all of these savings are truly realized.
   This might be a good task for a Citizens Financial Advisory Committee
   to investigate.