IMO education funding should not be a local municipal matter

I believe a lot of problems with our education system is funding. Some communities do not have enough money for even school books or paper, while some have so much money they don't know what to do with it all. I believe education funding should be either at State level or preferably at the Federal level. I mean the money should be divided up equally for every single student in the USA enrolled within the Public system. Say for example. every single student in the USA receives ten thousand dollars. Well the students don't receive it the school does but if a school has ten students it receives a hundred thousand dollars, a hundred students, one million dollars, etc. etc. Right now Property tax is the main instrument for school funding, and it still could be for projects such as new playgrounds or new wing onto the school. There should be Federal Grants available for communities where property is "low end". To have the entire load fall upon just the local communities creates so many of the current problems America is facing..I would much rather my tax dollars go to educating our children than buying bombs and bullets to kill children with..just my two cents worth..:shrug:

It's really big and really nice..

pay cuts or face layoff while installing ASTRO TURFF. And no, I am not joking. Mind boggling and very depressing.

What would we be without our gladiatorial games?

1. Pay scales aren't equal. Neither are property costs, utility costs, etc. Let's pay the algebra teacher in Manhatten the same that you pay the algebra teacher in The Dalles. Let's build a school in Manhatten versus building a school in The Dalles. Good luck with that one.

2. Political power isn't equal. This cuts both ways. Politically connected, wealthy people will have more political power. Advocates for the disadvantaged leverage their advocacy for power. Which "wins" in any given year may vary, but leaving it as a flat per-student payment won't fly.

3. Schools aren't equal often because students aren't equal. Take my old high school. It had money for more and better lab equipment, supplies, AP courses and the like. But had crappy students so there was no demand for the money. The first fallacy in education is that all students are equal. If you have to spend half your time motivating students or maintaining order that's time you don't spend teaching; if you spend 5% of your time motivating students or maintaining order students can learn a lot more.

A study a few years back looked critically at the correlation between funding for education and academic achievement. They found that it hovered frighteningly close to 0.

4. Priorities aren't equal. Where I live is finishing up a huge building spree because the kiddie population exploded in the last decade. New schools all over the place--and nice ones, too. Stonework and wrought iron on the inside, full light/sound systems in the auditorium. Compare that to the next district over where the population is stable and the schools are older. True, they have slightly higher maintenance. But their bond payments are much less and so they spend much less on their physical plant.

Needless to say, the district with the new schools has had the same improvement in academic achievement that the district with old schools has. Which is to say, none. "New wine in old bottles" makes better educational sense than "old wine in new bottles."

5. With money goes control. Don't say it doesn't because it does--if not today, then tomorrow or next year. When control means "doing what I want," it's good; when control means "doing what the other guy wants" it's bad. That's the overarching principle at work. Different communities have different values, offer different electives, have different foci. But when it comes to "doing what I want" diversity really, really, really sucks because it means people *aren't* doing what I want.

6. With centralized funding goes centralized budget cuts or, more likely--given the lack of constraints on federal spending--even larger federal deficits. Meanwhile, it's unlikely that states would "give back" the taxes now going to schools.

you seem to have left out state level funding.