When the (school) levy breaks…

School levies had really mixed results in my area yesterday. Which got me to thinking.

I’ve done a considerable [1] amount of academic studying of economics and education. I’ve also homeschooled, sent my kids to public and private schools, been myself in public and private schools… so I think I have some expertise in order to talk about school levies just a little bit.

: Supporting public education is in every citizen’s benefit, whether their kids are personally benefiting or not. And yes, I’m talking to both rich people and elderly folks on a fixed income. Unless they’re willing to start footing the entire bill for the police protection they get… right. You get my point. (This is also why vouchers are a bad idea.)

: Making schools compete on the free market means they’re going to try to maximize profits – not education. That’s what the free market does. If you think skimping’s a bad idea for education, then maybe

: The idea that “education is reading, writing, and arithmetic” is so 19th century.

: Adding money to a school system does not always make it better. This is true. Removing funding from a school system always makes it worse.

: Bad administrators cause a majority of problems in school systems. When their funds are reduced, they never cut their own jobs.

Keep those in mind the next time a levy issue comes up in your area.

[1] More than the average person, at least.