[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Elementary Math

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Elementary Math
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1205385933.shtml


   The Osseo School District (279) has announced its budget cuts forced
   by the failure to get additional funding in November's elections. This
   includes closing two elementary schools, Edgewood and Osseo. Judging
   by the local Channel 12 coverage, the affected parents are seething,
   vowing to take their children out of the district.
   These closings save little money. One report said that these closings
   will cover only about 5 percent of the projected $16 million
   shortfall. If the parents follow through on their threats, it may not
   cover even that.
   As with District 281, these closings seem almost silly to me. You save
   pennies, not dollars, for which you draw the ire of the community.
   Plus, it seems like a race to the bottom. Enrollment drops, so you
   close a school, but only when the sword of Damocles looms overhead.
   Without a local school, fewer families move nearby, and enrollment
   drops further.
   Public education will seldom live up to most parents' expectations and
   yet they storm the Board rooms when closings, even changes are
   mentioned. They're not the best schools they could want, but they're
   their schools. Even if they agree that their new school will be as
   good, it's usually a significantly longer distance away. It's no
   longer a home game.
   This is simplistic advice, but I would raise class sizes to whatever
   is required to keep these schools open, not close them for the chump
   change savings like we're looking at here.