School Days

Schools seem to be a controversial subject these day; schools and teachers. And I can’t help but be interested in these subjects…I have no children in school but I do have grandchildren attending school at various levels. And I am still a taxpayer, so I guess that gives me a right to air my views.

I’m often surprised by the conditions that I see in the school plants themselves. The buildings are old and maintenance has obviously been deferred. Desks need repair, walls need repainting and ceilings show signs of leaking roofs. And then I look at the tools that are to be used for education; the computers and the software. It’s all old and outdated, plus there aren’t even enough of these tools for all of the students.

Now I compare what I see in the schools with what I see in our businesses. The difference is huge! Business wouldn’t tolerate the conditions that our schools operate under. I worked for a large construction firm and our yearly budget for computers, peripherals and software was over $2 million. That was for an employee base of 600+. That’s over $3,000 per employee, every year. Why did they spend that kind of money for computers? Because they recognized the value of the tool. No one was allowed to do without the needed tools. Whatever was needed to make the employee more efficient was supplied. It makes good business sense. Just as buying safety supplies makes for a safer workplace, buying tools makes employees more efficient.

It’s obvious that the schools don’t use a business model for success and it’s also obvious that we don’t spend enough money on our schools. How can we give our children a first class education when we won’t finance that education?