In constant dollars, education spending rose from $1,214 per pupil in 1945 to nearly $10,500 in 2008, writes Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor who blogs as Instapundit.The obvious point is that costs shouldn't be nearly so high and public education is broken.
The cost wouldn't be so high if:
- There were no special education students, and every age sat in the same room.
- The teachers were all underpaid women who could be used as semi-slave labor.
- 70% of the students never made it past 8th grade. 30% never made it at all.
- Health insurance was a matter of trading a chicken for a doctor's visit.
- The only technology was a slate blackboard and a woodstove.
- The parents got the kids to school (or they walked).
- There were minimal sports.
- There were only four courses: Reading/Writing, Arithmetic, a bit of Science, and maybe some History.
- Auto tech and wood tech was another name for the woodshed behind Old Man Jackson's House.
- Home Ec was held in your own house.
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To me it does, because it seems as if the education system is over reaching. A lot of those are services that could still be provided at less cost by another means. For example, I'd rather see Home Ec provided through groups like 4H and Girl Scouts - which is how I learned. Much less expensive, more fun, and more experience as I participated in 4H for several years. As to 70% not making it past 8th grade, those who attained an 8th-grade education may have been on par with today's minimum graduation requirements. I am not saying that is necessarily true, but that possibility was not addressed here. We have graduates who can't read or write well, but nonetheless have diplomas.
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance was never a matter of trading a chicken for a doctor's visit. That's a fee for service. At one time, people established accounts with their local hospitals to ensure that their bills would be paid. Doctors were largely paid out of pocket. I think use of insurance for all but catastrophic situations has been a major contributor (though not the only one) to cost - and so costs will continue to go up as more people participate in its use. Insurance does not equal access.