[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Theo-retical Analysis

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Theo-retical Analysis
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1211510032.shtml


   The official creation of what is now called the "Financial Advisory
   Council" is set for Monday's District 281 Board Meeting. I'll wait
   until final passage before making my final observations, but I fear it
   won't have even the time to consider some important questions like
   [1]"what happens when all of our old buildings come due for
   replacement?"
   Here's another: what is the "true" cost of Special Education in the
   Robbinsdale Area Schools? The traditional way is to categorize the
   various program and object costs, correlating with the state formulas,
   leading to the charge that the state and/or federal governments have
   saddled us with unfunded mandates.
   They probably have, but I'd like to try this another way, to calculate
   a baseline without Special Education, and then compute the difference.
   By baseline I mean an idyllic world where nobody needs Special
   Education. The student body is 100 percent average kids, like Beaver
   (Theodore) Cleaver and Theo Huxtable. What would that cost -
   buildings, payroll, etc.? I think we could make a pretty good guess
   without too much trouble.
   I ask this because more than once I've heard claims that the current
   accounting methods and formulas significantly under-estimate the total
   cost of Special Education, a big part of why there are unfunded
   mandates. This would help either confirm the existing methods or
   identify the true costs so we can budget better in the future.

References

   1. http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1212981996.shtml