Originally Posted By leemac Saw this on NBC Nightly News and my jaw was on the floor: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11456538" target="_blank">http://abcnews.go.com/Business...11456538</a> The LA schools district has now spent over $1bn on three "Taj Mahal" schools in the past few years. In a state that has a near-$700m shortfall in its education budget and is laying off thousands of teachers LA reckons it is okay to open this "architectural masterpiece" because it was all from muni bonds. Crazy. I appreciate that kids need good facilities but do they need to be buildings where architects have spent millions of dollars to make them look pretty?
Originally Posted By LPFan22 Hubby was telling me about this last night and it was so infuriating to hear. This money could have gone towards improving current hardships that CA schools/teachers/programs are experiencing.
Originally Posted By mawnck Greenlighted years ago when the economy was booming. ... by idjits. And here comes November.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Surprisingly, the $600 million school opens with more things to do than DCA had on opening day.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Tom...funny. But, let me take the other route and say that all schools should be $578 million and the funds for staffing should be relative. Our schools should be more valuable than the next mall or amusement park.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>let me take the other route and say that all schools should be $578 million and the funds for staffing should be relative. << Nice thought, but not realistic. Build 'em sufficient, says I. The line between "nice facility" and "wasteful, pointless extravagance" is well south of $578 million. Spiffy architectural flourishes don't teach kids.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper What is realisitic is that we could improve schools and education across the nation if we simply made it a priority.
Originally Posted By Mr X Imagine all the war machine gone, only enough forces to ensure protection and nothing more. And $600 million dollar schools for all the kids. I like that trade-off!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I wonder what the price tag is on schools we've helped build in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>What is realisitic is that we could improve schools and education across the nation if we simply made it a priority.<< Two words: Bing. O. We pay lip service to education. Then we spend billions as a culture on sporting events. Imagine what would happen if people refused to pay $350 for NFL Sunday Ticket. If they said, $100 is too much for the cheap seats at a basketball game. What if everyone just stopped and put the money elsewhere. I know, I know. It's a dream that'll never happen. But something is worth what people will spend. If a star player is paid $100 million a year, then that's what they're worth. If a teacher is paid $30,000 a year, then that's what our child's education is worth. That's what we value as a society.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones The issue isn't that education lacks funding. In California half the state budget is devoted to education. The issue here is that teachers are not evaluated properly and administration is top heavy. Some schools have six vice principles that do nothing. They should be teaching classes. Teachers are go above and beyond the call of duty (Jaime Escalante is the most high profile example) are ostracized by the union and driven to quit. The best teacher LA ever saw is living in Bolivia now.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>The best teacher LA ever saw is living in Bolivia now.<< I'm sorry to report that Jaime Escalante died in March from bladder cancer. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaime_Escalante" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...scalante</a>
Originally Posted By Terminus >>> Imagine what would happen if people refused to pay $350 for NFL Sunday Ticket <<< Let's not get crazy now! Actually, now that I'm imagining it, I think the DirecTV would go out of business, I would miss every Steelers game after having not missed one for 7 years, and I wouldn't see my brothers and their families NEAR as often as I do now. Sounds pretty crappy to me. I do want my son to have a good education though...
