Time for some outside the box thinking?
When an investment doesn’t produce results, perhaps it is time for some outside the box thinking.
That’s what is happening in Connecticut, where frustrated taxpayers are increasingly concerned about the ever-increasing investment in public schools that does not seem to producing the desired results.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Connecticut Faces a School Tax Revolt“:
Over the past two and a half decades, the student population in Connecticut has increased only 10%. Yet the cost of schooling more than doubled — to $8.8 billion in 2006, up from $3.4 billion in 1981.
And the results?
The National Assessment of Educational Progress puts eighth-grade proficiency figures in the state at 37% for reading, 35% for math, 33% for science and 53% for writing.
This is causing citizens and elected leaders to come up with some creative ideas to try and reform the educational system.
In Chester, First Selectman (Mayor) Tom Marsh proposes to pay students not to attend public school. He wants to give $1,500 a year to families who send a child to vocational school, $3,000 to families who homeschool, and to put $5,000 in a college scholarship fund for anyone transferring to a private high school.Mr. Marsh also wants to give a full two-year community college scholarship worth $5,000 to students who graduate from public high school in three years. “If we can persuade families to consider options outside the system,” he says, “we have the potential to save significantly long term.”
We’ve said it before, the more educational choices available to parents and families, the better. Now we just have to wait and see what happens…
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