Mark Steyn comments on Christian Schneider's defense of in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens (bracketed insertion is Steyn's):
By the time an undocumented [sic!] child makes it from first grade to graduating high school, taxpayers have already sunk over $100,000 into that child’s education. To pull the plug on those children because of the actions of their parents would be unfair, and would nullify the investment taxpayers have already made in the kid. …Steyn:
So while they’re here, our state would be better off giving these kids the chance to make our country better, rather than sentencing them to a second-class existence.
Good grief. First, the fact that 12 years of American education costs over a hundred grand ought to be an outrage, not an initial down-payment: We spend more per pupil than any advanced nation other than Luxembourg, and at least the Luxembourgers have something to show for it.Right. Choice has nothing to do with it. Husband and I educate (on a good day) our kids at home. We pay for all the books and the teacher donates her time. With no principals, vice principals, teaching assistants, clerical workers, curriculum experts, guidance counselors, psychologists, nurses, reading specialists, disciplinarians, security guards, hall monitors, lunch ladies, or janitors (if only!) to siphon off our money, it's pretty affordable. But, of course, we pay a lot more for our county schools (which we neither use nor support in principle) through our property taxes, payment of which is definitely not optional.
Second, the idea that government spending is an “investment” as opposed to prudent budgeting for necessary responsibilities is a classic all-purpose leftist euphemism for statism without end that no conservative should have any truck with: Why, to end our “investment” in “these kids” after a mere 12 years is to “sentence” people to a “second-class existence”! (And incidentally, how many taxpayers willingly chose this particular investment for their portfolio?)
Regular readers are familiar with my anti-government school rants. Home education, among its many other virtues, is exponentially cheaper and more effective than state schools.
Sometimes it's fun to fantasize about the field trips our family might have taken with our seven students, given a mere $10K per child (some districts spend a lot more) every year from grade 1 through 12. Our memorization of all the US capitals might have included a visit to each one. Okay, maybe the kids wouldn't appreciate a grand tour of Lansing, Hartford, or Jackson. How about a little walkabout in the Australian Outback instead of a trip to the zoo? A first-hand look at the pyramids would nicely supplement the study of ancient Egypt. And a modest junket to see the Grand Canyon would make our unit on geology really come alive. My three older girls might have enjoyed a bit of opera in Milan, or at least a season subscription to the Met or the Lyric. Or both! With $840,000K to blow, we could think big.
Anyway, read the rest of Steyn's post. I think it's safe to say that some conservatives have a blind spot when it comes to government schools and the value of the "education" acquired therein. Many graduates from "excellent" school systems, replete with taxpayer dollars and great reputations, can't pass community college placement tests in basic math or English. They then enroll in remedial classes which often don't help them, either. So much for the $100,000K "investment" in that child's "education."
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Since I grew up in CT, I can tell you that skipping Hartford would be a wise choice.
ReplyDeleteStuff like this makes my head want to explode. But then, who would teach our kids? (for about $600 per child, per year). I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteM. Ulrich
Homeschooling mom of 7 (one of whom has already graduated from university with a business degree and is working for an evil multinational corporation)
Oh what we could do with just a fraction of our county school taxes back for our homeschool! The concerts, the trips...We could do so much with so little. Let's try not to think about how much we pay under force by the government for schools we don't use at all and would never use. Such a waste.
ReplyDeleteWell said Jill.
ReplyDeleteFor those of us old enough to remember the public school system pre-hippie driven influence of the seventies and eighties, I can say that it wasn't that bad. It BECAME bad because it was allowed to by parents/citizens who refused to demand that idiots not be allowed inside the system. But it happened and we now have a huge entrenched bureaucracy.
The other day, I read where our broke public library system may need to increase fees and shorten hours. The announcement was made by the assistant director of book distribution or something like that. I thought, "Dammit, if there is an assistant, that means there has to be a director, with at least two assistants, a couple of secretaries, a clerk or two. For book distribution? What's that? Hmm... I think I found an area where cutting back would probably work!"
I homeschooled my two. I have used and liked the FLVS system which is online schooling. It works great. It provides the basic curriculum and the parents add to it by being the in home teacher working with the online, and very competent, teacher. The only downside is the PC component in the assignments. I get one more subtle push by the curriculum that there is global warming or big oil is bad...
Anyway, great post Jill and spot on. It is no longer about education. It is about money. The people who would rule us do not want an educated populace. That would be counterproductive. They want a compliant society of drones.