RE: Hicks Underpaid?
Here is a solution from OnTheBorderLine as asked by first commenter in prior post, Joe.
I have been watching the current debate over our state budget situation with great interest and it has become apparent that the Republicans (who hold 60 percent of the assembly seats right now) have a proposal composed of four parts: two parts I dare you, one part I double-dare you, and one part principle. Clearly, this proposal is more political than effective in the long term. Do I favor a freeze in property taxes? Well, yes - sort of.
I would much rather see a market driven solution come out of Madison that would make a freeze unnecessary. Unfortunately, there are no legislators who seem to be able to put two and two together and come up with four - they keep coming up with five or six! There is, however, a real solution to our state’s budget woes. It is also, not surprisingly, a solution to our educational debate. It is my humble wish that any legislators within eyeshot of this blog entry will consider my solution as follows. Certainly there would be details to work out but the following will eliminate the need for a tax freeze debate and would likely make a TABOR far more palatable.What? How can this be? Read on…
Currently, the State of Wisconsin educates roughly 880,000 students from the ages of 4 to 20. This is all done for free, so says the state constitution. Interestingly, when one looks into our state budget we find that this free education actually costs the taxpayers of this state roughly $9 billion dollars. While nobody sees even a scintilla of logic in that constitutional provision, most on the left point to this (including the Governor) as all they need to spend more and more on K-12 education. After all, it’s free money. Well, therein is the solution.
If you run the numbers, you will find that K-12 education is not free to anyone, and that it actually costs the taxpayers of Wisconsin roughly $10,300 per student. If you adjust this number for the cost of living, Wisconsin ranks either number one, or very close to it, on a nation-wide basis. Such spending is unsustainable, ergo the need for a TABOR. Now, if you also look at what it costs to educate a child outside of the public schools you find that it is roughly one-half the cost, or approximately $5,000. This ratio of 2:1 is, by the way, found almost nationwide and provides a clear solution to our current budget situation.
For purposes of this example, let us round the numbers to $10,000 and $5,000. The differential between them then is $5,000. So, the question to pose to our legislators is this: How many $5,000 dollar units would it take to remedy our current budget situation? Stated differently, how many students would you have to pull out of the public school system and place into lower cost private schools to solve most of your budget problem? By approaching public education in this way, would you save other costs now born by taxpayers over a longer term?
The answer is pretty clear. Currently, the state is looking at an approximate shortfall of 1.5 billion dollars over two years. Given that we have 880,000 students in the system, if you were to provide economic incentives for parents to send their children to non-public schools you would need 150,000 of the 880,000 (17%) of them to leave at a differential of $5,000 to cause a savings to the state of roughly $1.5 billion dollars over two years. What makes this option very interesting is that numerous nationwide studies have shown that upwards of 50% of parents would, if they could, send their children to a private school. We only need 17%, so clearly this is a matter where pure parental choice and the market place can solve our budget and tax nightmare.
If the proper incentive system (such as a statewide education tax credit) were in place, we could solve many of our long-term state budget woes because the onus would be on the private sector to build new buildings and hire quality teachers. The efficiency of the market as well as competition for pupils would keep the costs down over the long run. Until and unless legislators come to grips with the simple fact that it is our state’s monopoly over education that has created an incurable and systematic problem for funding education we will never solve the matter - it will only get worse. The sooner citizens, the Governor and all of our legislators come to grips with this reality the sooner we can get on with the real job of public education through a real market for the education of our children. That will set the stage for a truly free society, far higher quality of graduates, and far less argument amongst the citizenry. A TABOR would place constraints on the public schools that survive so that they would live within our means, a concept that is, by the way, way over due.
In closing, I would ask readers to ponder why it is that we have insisted for so long on a state monopoly over education. What is it that you are afraid of, capitalism and free markets created the most affluent and successful nation in the history of the world. A nation that is more charitable and compassionate than any other country. Why not allow the same dynamo to work in the realm of education? If one is truly interested in America housing the best in educational options and results, you need go no further than three of our greatest weapons - choice, freedom and the market. Our state motto is “Forward,” we ought to be leading the charge then in real educational choice and individual freedom, rather than compulsion, socialism and confiscatory taxation - Let’s get on with it!
------
Look for more coming soon.
And is there a sloution to the district's problem other than finger pointing?
Or are you a 'cut and run' from public schools.
I have been watching the current debate over our state budget situation with great interest and it has become apparent that the Republicans (who hold 60 percent of the assembly seats right now) have a proposal composed of four parts: two parts I dare you, one part I double-dare you, and one part principle. Clearly, this proposal is more political than effective in the long term. Do I favor a freeze in property taxes? Well, yes - sort of.
I would much rather see a market driven solution come out of Madison that would make a freeze unnecessary. Unfortunately, there are no legislators who seem to be able to put two and two together and come up with four - they keep coming up with five or six! There is, however, a real solution to our state’s budget woes. It is also, not surprisingly, a solution to our educational debate. It is my humble wish that any legislators within eyeshot of this blog entry will consider my solution as follows. Certainly there would be details to work out but the following will eliminate the need for a tax freeze debate and would likely make a TABOR far more palatable.What? How can this be? Read on…
Currently, the State of Wisconsin educates roughly 880,000 students from the ages of 4 to 20. This is all done for free, so says the state constitution. Interestingly, when one looks into our state budget we find that this free education actually costs the taxpayers of this state roughly $9 billion dollars. While nobody sees even a scintilla of logic in that constitutional provision, most on the left point to this (including the Governor) as all they need to spend more and more on K-12 education. After all, it’s free money. Well, therein is the solution.
If you run the numbers, you will find that K-12 education is not free to anyone, and that it actually costs the taxpayers of Wisconsin roughly $10,300 per student. If you adjust this number for the cost of living, Wisconsin ranks either number one, or very close to it, on a nation-wide basis. Such spending is unsustainable, ergo the need for a TABOR. Now, if you also look at what it costs to educate a child outside of the public schools you find that it is roughly one-half the cost, or approximately $5,000. This ratio of 2:1 is, by the way, found almost nationwide and provides a clear solution to our current budget situation.
For purposes of this example, let us round the numbers to $10,000 and $5,000. The differential between them then is $5,000. So, the question to pose to our legislators is this: How many $5,000 dollar units would it take to remedy our current budget situation? Stated differently, how many students would you have to pull out of the public school system and place into lower cost private schools to solve most of your budget problem? By approaching public education in this way, would you save other costs now born by taxpayers over a longer term?
The answer is pretty clear. Currently, the state is looking at an approximate shortfall of 1.5 billion dollars over two years. Given that we have 880,000 students in the system, if you were to provide economic incentives for parents to send their children to non-public schools you would need 150,000 of the 880,000 (17%) of them to leave at a differential of $5,000 to cause a savings to the state of roughly $1.5 billion dollars over two years. What makes this option very interesting is that numerous nationwide studies have shown that upwards of 50% of parents would, if they could, send their children to a private school. We only need 17%, so clearly this is a matter where pure parental choice and the market place can solve our budget and tax nightmare.
If the proper incentive system (such as a statewide education tax credit) were in place, we could solve many of our long-term state budget woes because the onus would be on the private sector to build new buildings and hire quality teachers. The efficiency of the market as well as competition for pupils would keep the costs down over the long run. Until and unless legislators come to grips with the simple fact that it is our state’s monopoly over education that has created an incurable and systematic problem for funding education we will never solve the matter - it will only get worse. The sooner citizens, the Governor and all of our legislators come to grips with this reality the sooner we can get on with the real job of public education through a real market for the education of our children. That will set the stage for a truly free society, far higher quality of graduates, and far less argument amongst the citizenry. A TABOR would place constraints on the public schools that survive so that they would live within our means, a concept that is, by the way, way over due.
In closing, I would ask readers to ponder why it is that we have insisted for so long on a state monopoly over education. What is it that you are afraid of, capitalism and free markets created the most affluent and successful nation in the history of the world. A nation that is more charitable and compassionate than any other country. Why not allow the same dynamo to work in the realm of education? If one is truly interested in America housing the best in educational options and results, you need go no further than three of our greatest weapons - choice, freedom and the market. Our state motto is “Forward,” we ought to be leading the charge then in real educational choice and individual freedom, rather than compulsion, socialism and confiscatory taxation - Let’s get on with it!
------
Look for more coming soon.
posted by Anonymous @ 8:59 PM
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