A Fresh Perspective on Education Reform

Everyone has their hands in possible education reform.  There are ideas ranging from increased federal assistance, expansion of the Department of Education, vouchers, benchmarks for standardized tests, removing teacher tenure, and so on and so forth.  There is no perfect storm of education reform that in the short term will increase test scores, decrease the drop out rate, and better prepare all students for college.  More importantly, when considering options for reform it needs to be revenue neutral and not include any sort of federal stimulus.  The deficit needs to be considered in all policy, foreign or domestic.  So how do we figure out a way to make our education system better without writing a check?  I believe there are three components to proper education reform: state funding for districts, federal oversight, and tax reform.

State Funding for Districts

A public school budget is related to the amount of property taxes collected in that districts area.  Low income areas have small stretched out budgets and high income areas have well funded schools that are given a blank check to operate.  This gap is the dilemma in the countries education system.  A low income area school district has over crowded classrooms, out dated facilities, out dated technology, and under paid teachers.  The budget alone for these types of districts never gives them a chance to improve because the money just isn’t there.  So because of the lack of funds, the students suffer.  The students come to a dirty school, sometimes with no computers, no new books, and teachers that are falling into financial ruin just like the district itself.  Besides outliers in these areas, most students will never see a college classroom.  They’ll never have a career only a series of jobs, and will most likely never get out of that neighborhood.  The lack of funding for education in these areas is directly related to the social dilemma as well.  We aren’t doing our part to prepare these young people for the future, and then as a country we shun them for accepting federal support.  This can’t continue, there needs to be a change in the way schools are funded.  My plan is to reexamine the way property taxes are distributed to school districts.  The process would be simple to replicate state by state.

-In each district, take the total amount of property taxes collected and divide that by the amount of students enrolled in the district.  This will give you a property tax per student measurement.

-Once you have data for all the districts in the state, figure out the mean (average of the property tax per student) and chart a bell curve around the mean.  Then place all districts at or under the mean on the bell curve.  This will be the basis and the key for figuring out how to fund districts.  Funds will be reallocated from schools that are budged above the mean to schools that are under budgeted below the mean. 

Some may see this as a redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor.  I don’t see it that way, if anything the tax payer in the high income area is better off because of the reallocation.  The reason for this is that the only other option is federal or state stimulus to under funded schools.  This will inevitably raise everyone’s taxes (even those in the under funded district).  My way of changing funding is a responsible way to work with the tax revenue the state has already collected.  High funded areas do not need to overspend on athletic facilities when under funded areas can’t afford computers and new books.

This reallocation of funding gives everyone a chance.  It is the starting point to my plan for education reform.  All schools need to be funded properly, but in a way that is fiscally responsible to both the state and federal government.

Federal Oversight

Once the bell curve funding process is implemented, there needs to be oversight for the districts that have received funds to boost their budget.  This is where the Department of Education comes into play, but in a new way.  The Department of Education will be changed to only include auditors.  These auditors will spend time evaluating qualitative and quantitative factors at each district.  These measures would include but not be limited to the literacy rate, graduation rate, and teacher evaluation by their peers, students, administrators, and federal auditors.  Also a new statistic would be implemented and tracked.  I think it’s important to track not only the graduation rate for high school, but the graduation rate from college as well.  School districts need to be evaluated by the way they prepare students for college.  I believe that high school curriculums need to be complex and challenging, but also the volume of work has to be on par with a college curriculum.  At the end of the day, the purpose of education is to prepare you for the future.  So if reform is going to be done to the system, it needs to be done to maximize the effectiveness of education and improve the chance of success at the next level for students.  Tracking this data and holding districts accountable for their results is a great way to utilize the federal government on education reform.

Tax Reform

Now that the budget is at a level in which students have a chance to succeed, there needs to be a way to properly compensate teachers for the job they do.  Across the board, if districts raise wages for teachers it defeats the purpose of the reallocation of funds to solve budget problems for under funded areas.  This is another opportunity in which the federal government can maximize their effectiveness in education reform.  I think that teacher’s salaries should be federal tax exempt.  This won’t increase their annual salary but it will increase their take home paycheck (which is more important).  Teachers should have preferential tax treatment, because of the sacrifice they make to shape the minds of our children.  If there is a fiscally responsible way to do this on the federal level, it needs to be taken advantage of.  Teachers teach because that is their passion, they’re not motivated by money.  Although, they need to be better compensated for the work they do.  Tax reform on the federal level is the best way to accomplish this.

This three point plan to education reform isn’t perfect, but it’s a good start to enter a discussion on revenue neutral reform.  The education system is flawed, it can’t be fixed by standardized measures for all students, it can’t be fixed by sending above average students to charter schools by using vouchers, and certainly can’t be fixed by hopeful initiatives from the White House. 

Economic reform, social reform, and education reform are all connected to each other.  A properly reformed education system creates more college graduates that create value in the economy.  More college graduates from all areas of the country increases our global competitiveness.  Less people dependent on social programs effects the fiscal efficiency of the government, it effects the tax rates that everyone is required to pay, and it allows the government to reallocate funds to prepare the country for another century of global superiority.  It all starts with proper education reform though, in all parts of the country.  My hope is the long term result will be an increase in college graduates nation wide which will raise economic conditions in low income areas of the country.  If this happens, it bridges the gap between social classes, it allows all school districts to be self sustaining without the reallocation of property taxes, and it increases the economic activity of the country.  Education reform is an opportunity to change the country for good, and reduce the size of social programs in the future.  I hope both sides of the isle understand the connection between education and economic reform.  Coming together on this will please both parties, which is a great start to my goal of bipartisanship in Washington.