Do You Want To Day Dream With Me?

[Robin Hood]

I found this website while I was trying to search for a yearly activity that takes place in our school district. I found our ps and while I scrolled down the page I noticed a section on finances per student. My district spends $7700.00 per student while my state spends over $10,00.00 per student. I have been in a dream world ever since just imagining what I could do with the $15,400.00 in our little private home school.

 

 

http://www.greatschools.net/

 

Under find and compare, type your state and local public school. After it directs you, scroll down to the bottom to see what your district gets per student.

 

I always knew this but what could I ever do about it, so I choose not to think about it. There it was in a sudden stare down with me and my first thought was all the field trips we would take, then all the living books I would add to our library, the school room I could add, the music lessons, the math tutor, oh, oh, oh...

Edited September 30, 2008 by Robin Hood
grammar

[gardening momma]

For the kindergarten center:

$7,270 per student (state average $8,487)

57% instructional

12% support services

11% administration

21% other

[Crissy]

I must be reading that graph differently.

I see that my district spends $7300 per student while the state average is $9000. That's not an additional $9000 per student, the graph is just showing that my district spends a bit less per student than many other districts.

[gardening momma]

She's multiplying the $7,700 per student by 2 (the number of kids she has).

[Crissy]

She's multiplying the $7,700 per student by 2 (the number of kids she has).

 

Oh! I see.

 

Best get back to the kitchen...and the coffee pot. :D

[RoughCollie]

My town spends $12K per student.

 

But that doesn't mean that if a student leaves they have $12K extra. Most of that money is tied up in fixed costs that will occur even if some of the students leave: salaries, benefits, utilities, and so forth.

 

But I'll daydream with you. If I had $48K to spend on homeschooling ($12K x 4) -- I'd take my 2 who are in PS out immediately. We'd go to Europe and learn history there. I'd find a way to spend it on experiences -- not just travel (in Europe and the US) but also on stuff like piano lessons, season tickets to the symphony, museum memberships ... all sorts of stuff that isn't physical stuff, except for the piano.

 

This would have to be money that could only be spend on education, though, otherwise I'd put it into savings or use it for necessities or to pay down the mortgage. This is why, when I daydream, I pretend I won the Power Ball lottery in the amount of $350,000,000 after taxes, taken in a lump sum. These are just daydreams because I don't buy lottery tickets, btw.

Edited September 30, 2008 by RoughCollie

[mysticamethyst]

I would love to be able to spend that much money on each of my kids every year for school. But, then I would probably over schedule to make sure they did it all. Wouldn't it be nice for us to use that money with no strings, ah to dream. Microscopes for eveyone, a sport for everyone, and a music for eveyone. No one spends money like the government.

[Robin Hood]

My town spends $12K per student.

But I'll daydream with you. If I had $48K to spend on homeschooling -- I'd take my 2 who are in PS out immediately. We'd go to Europe and learn history there. I'd find a way to spend it on experiences -- not just travel (in Europe and the US) but also on stuff like piano lessons, season tickets to the symphony, museum memberships ... all sorts of stuff that isn't physical stuff, except for the piano.

 

 

Yah, that stuff. Yearly.

[Robin Hood]

I would love to be able to spend that much money on each of my kids every year for school. But, then I would probably over schedule to make sure they did it all. Wouldn't it be nice for us to use that money with no strings, ah to dream. Microscopes for eveyone, a sport for everyone, and a music for eveyone. No one spends money like the government.

 

:lol::lol:

[Paula in MS]

Another interesting thing to look at is the cost of private schools vs. the cost of public schools. I looked at an elementary school in our district, the cost was $6,500 per student. There are a couple of private schools in our county that cost around $3,500. They use Abeka or BJU curriculum. The educational level of these students is much higher than our local public school. (And our local school district is one of the best in the state.) What does that say about the efficiency levels of our public schools? The class sizes are much smaller at the private school as well. Just interesting to think about.

 

Paula

[Robin Hood]

The teachers get a salary, too, so that's money we would get spend on ourselves.

[Robin Hood]

Another interesting thing to look at is the cost of private schools vs. the cost of public schools. I looked at an elementary school in our district, the cost was $6,500 per student. There are a couple of private schools in our county that cost around $3,500. They use Abeka or BJU curriculum. The educational level of these students is much higher than our local public school. (And our local school district is one of the best in the state.) What does that say about the efficiency levels of our public schools? The class sizes are much smaller at the private school as well. Just interesting to think about.

 

Paula

 

That amount is paid in tuition fees paid by the parent. That feels a little different than government spending. But you're right, you can get an excellent education for much less. Just look at all of us and our kids and what we spend. I just like the dreaming ....

[gardening momma]

I looked at an elementary school in our district, the cost was $6,500 per student. There are a couple of private schools in our county that cost around $3,500.

A few weeks ago I looked up a local Christian school's tuition online (for curiosity's sake). For K-6th, it's over $5,000 per student (each additional student gets a discount). That's still apx. $2,000 less than the public schools here. The money for both have to go toward teachers, building costs, administration, etc... I don't see what the difference is that makes the one cost so much more per student.

[kokotg]

Another interesting thing to look at is the cost of private schools vs. the cost of public schools. I looked at an elementary school in our district, the cost was $6,500 per student. There are a couple of private schools in our county that cost around $3,500. They use Abeka or BJU curriculum. The educational level of these students is much higher than our local public school. (And our local school district is one of the best in the state.) What does that say about the efficiency levels of our public schools? The class sizes are much smaller at the private school as well. Just interesting to think about.

 

Paula

 

In general, teacher salaries are much lower and benefits not as good at private schools.

[Remudamom]

Well, I hope they can't trace email addresses from their comment section.