Has Miami-Dade Really Found The Secret Of Cheap Excellence?
The Miami-Dade County Public Schools spends less per student than the only three larger districts in the country and still manages to deliver top-tier student achievement results.
The implication, popular with the conservative wing of reformsters, is that educational excellence is available for bargain prices if we just worked the right levers. But there are three large holes in his Florida argument.
McShane starts by pointing out that Miami educates around 350,000 students, and according to the census folks, they do it for less than $10K a year, far less than other huge districts, even when adjusted for cost of living. This has not a surprise; Florida schools have been trying to shake off the "latest" budget cuts for years (here they are in 2011, and here they are this year). Florida is run by politicians who are openly hostile to public education, and they've been trying to bleed the system dry for years.
But Miami-Dade, says McShane, is doing it "partly" by providing low-cost education by pushing back CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Has Miami-Dade Really Found The Secret Of Cheap Excellence?