I’ve spent the last two postings discussing school funding and based on my site visit statistics, I need to find another topic!  I began my career serving students with disabilities and was drawn to this work largely because I thought there was a need and it mattered.  I still feel that way…

This week a couple of news items caught my eye and stuck with me.  The first issue was prompted by the budget proposal from our current federal secretary of education which included eliminating funding for Special Olympics.  To be clear, her punch card for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools, probably does influence this public school administrator’s opinions.  Regardless, her proposed cuts to these athletes struck a nerve.  I suppose it didn’t help matters that one of my dear friends specializes in adaptive physical education instruction and also coordinates the regional Special Olympics meet within our area for students which our district serves as the host site.  The upcoming competition will have over 340 athletes with special needs locally and over 450 additional athletes with special needs from the region.  Even more brag-worthy, we will be the largest local Special Olympics track meet in the state of Texas.  This is year 14 for this local event so I called my friend and asked a couple of basic questions – you should consider supporting them if you can, https://mckinneymavericks.org/.

Q1:  Why do you do it?

I believe it’s just a lot of what the world needs and I see the impact it has on families.

Q2:  Why does it matter?

A2:  Special Olympics provides an avenue for everyone across a broad spectrum – it builds a community.

She’s right by the way.

The second issue I read about this week dealt with proposed legislation to legalize lemonade stands.  Honestly this one stumped the noggin as well.  It makes a little sense if you stick with the narrative long enough but still seems like overreach.  It turns out a lemonade stand, like any makeshift business, runs afoul of city permits and lacks proper inspection from the health department.  I get it, I guess, but I still admire the kids for their stick-to-it-ness.  You should make time to watch 8-year-old Branson Burton as he testified (on a step stool) in front of the Texas House State Affairs committee in support of legislation that would let him keep selling lemonade.  By his own account, he netted a nifty $246 profit before getting shut down.

As folks in the business of advocating for other, let’s keep advocating…

In my last posting I introduced the topic of how public education is funded in Texas and I wanted to revisit that conversation.  By way of brief update, the legislature has established a basic allotment per student and then a separate “tier” of funding for program enrichment which addresses students needing a continuum of special services.  That basic allotment (or tier 1) currently guarantees $5,140 per student per school year which is the state’s attempt through wealth equalization to ensure some level of consistent funding.  Tier 2 funding is supplemental and dependent upon the needs of a given student population.  This “program enrichment” allocation is designed to provide additional resources for students requiring special services, such as special education, bilingual education, career and technical education, and gifted and talented education.  In sum, when you factor in our general operating budget, it costs on average around $10,000 a year to educate a student in our district.  Though a portion of our revenue comes from the state via sales tax collection, that portion this year was approximately 15%.  This means that 85% of our revenue (money needed to balance the budget) was generated through local property taxes.  In simpler terms, we’re collectively expending approximately $55 per instructional day to ensure a child can come to a public school.

I quoted Ben Franklin previously who is credited with saying “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”  We’re wrapping up the third marking period today in preparation for spring break so all grades are being finalized as I type.  Like many parents, I have created some monetary incentives for my boys to do well in school but also to recognize their efforts through some tangible gestures.  There have even been research experiments conducted that explore the benefits associated with direct incentives for attendance, behavior, coursework, etc.  Consider the following chart from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, as a time-tested concrete example:

It has always been a pretty safe bet that the more you learn, the more you earn.  The chart above seems to make a pretty compelling case for this argument.  On average, a person with a bachelor’s degree earns around 65% more income per week than a person with only a high school diploma.  A person with an advanced degree can average as high as 158% more income per week.  In dollars, we can estimate a high school diploma affords an annual salary of $38,000 compared to $62,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $98,000 for an advanced or professional degree.  More recently, our state education agency has adopted a broad “College, Career, and Military Ready (CCMR)” focus to recognize the multiple pathways students can pursue towards postsecondary success.    If you spend some time browsing the related content and subjects on the Labor site you’ll see a variety of outcomes based on education decisions.  They even offer a light-hearted spin to the iconic Game of Life board game with their own online version that is intended to help users make informed decisions about some really important matters.

At the end of the day (and more precisely a school year), I’m not sure if a $10K investment is too little, too much, or just right but I’m pretty sure it’s not for me to decide.  I will say this though – I’ve never had a student (child) tell me that he or she was provided too many opportunities…