The Story of Stuff

This is what is entering our schools. Over 40,000 in the last few years.

Blake

Release the Kraken

More thoughts coming later...

Waiting for Superman

Finally

"Waiting for Superman" is a brand-new documentary that is set to hit theaters in New York and Los Angeles on September 24 and nationwide later. It is made by the same filmmaker Davis Guggenheim who is best known for making "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming. My reaction to this documentary being released and going mainstream is: it is about time.

“Superman” affectingly, movingly traces the stories of five children—all but one of them poor and black or Hispanic—and their parents as they seek to secure a decent education by gaining admission via lottery to high-performing charter schools. At the same time, the film is a withering indictment of the adults—in particular, those at the teachers unions—who have let the public-school system rot, and a boon to reformers such as Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools, who has waged an epic campaign to overhaul the notoriously dysfunctional system over which she presides.

We have to rethink the way we look, think, and act on education in this country. Hopefully, this documentary will impact policy and the national dialogue and kitchen tables as much as "The Inconvenient Truth" has.

The Facts

9, 13, 17 year old children who take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the most reliable test for progress, found the following:

• Average Reading Test in 1971: 285
• Average Reading Test in 2008: 286
• Average Math Test in 1973: 304
• Average Math Test in 2008: 306

Examining a 2006 assessment, we noticed our standing in the education compared to our peers around the world has worsened :

• Mathematics: ranked 35th out of 57 developing countries
• Science: ranked 29th out of 57 developing countries
  

It is amazing to see the level of financial support that our education system has received over the very same time period. It is staggering and heartbreaking at the same time:

• From 1960 to 1995, public spending per pupil increased 212%
• Since the 1970s, federal spending per student has doubled.
• Tied with Switzerland for highest per pupil expenditures at $11,000.
  
• Spending went up 40% alone during the Bush Administration
• By 1995, the less than half of U.S. public school employees were teachers!

Standard theories cannot generally explain this stagnant growth over 4 decades with high salaries and benefits as well as better student teacher ratios:

• In 1955, student teacher ratio was 27:1
• In 2008, student teacher ratio was 15:1
• Student population increase is 8%
• Teacher allotment increase is 61%
• In 2008, the average teacher received $53,230. Two teachers married to each other would qualify in the top 20% of wage earning households in this country.

So Why Blog About This?

This is a crisis. Most people that I know, including myself, grew up in affluent areas with relatively positive experiences in public schools. The reality is that for many people in less affluent areas, the public school experience is dreadful. In the Schott Report, it found that 47% of African American students graduate from high school. After all the money we throw at education, something is wrong.

We need to change the way we do education, radically. Unfortunately, we cannot do that until the general public is aware of the pervasiveness of this problem and chooses to not accept the status quo. In my opinion, school choice attacks the status quo, and radically alters the direction of the lives of children (here is my previous blog on school choice).

For kids in the most troubling areas for schools in this country, their only hope for a quality education is that their number is called in a lottery that can send them to a high performing charter school. Otherwise, they are condemned to the failing school around the corner or in their neighborhood by the government monopoly of education. This is the elephant in the room. That is why "Waiting for Superman" is going to be so revealing. Because for most of these disadvantaged kids, the best chance for their success in life is hoping Superman comes.

Blake

Big Business

I recently made a short drive up Hwy 78 from Tupelo to New Albany and noticed something along the way that got me thinking. Off to the right side of the highway was the soon to be operational Toyota plant; a plant that is in the process of hiring 1500 employees, the majority of whom will be Mississippians. So what is significant about a new manufacturing plant in the heart of North Mississippi? Well, it is creating jobs, but to me, the significance is in that the plant is even in Mississippi at all. It is all credit to the proactive work of the Mississippi government. You see, even though Mississippi ranks near the bottom of the barrel in most economic categories, they are realizing something, something rather important to future economic viability: being pro-business is good for business, and that in turn, is good for everyone in the state. Toyota did not pick Mississippi because of its breathtaking beauty or ideal climate, Toyota decided to call Mississippi home because the State of Mississippi offered generous tax breaks and an incentive package that was not matched by any other of the possible locations. So is there something here, is it possible we could learn something from the actions of the government to promote business? Would Toyota have come to Mississippi if instead the state had decided to raise taxes on manufactures? Absolutely not. Mississippi provided a place where Toyota could be as profitable as possible and decided to work with big business and not against. And for its efforts, Mississippi will receive immense benefits that will help drive down unemployment and increase economic stature.


It is predicted, that when all is said and done and the plant is fully operational, total direct and indirect jobs created due to Toyota will exceed 10000.

I could give you all kinds of predicted outcomes and expected benefits to North Mississippi thanks to Toyota, but I’m sure someone could find fault in my numbers. So instead, ill shift from north Mississippi to central Mississippi, my home turf, to where in 2003, Nissan came to town. Under nearly identical circumstances a tax break and incentive program from the state government was put in place to bring Nissan to Madison County. The outcome: Madison County has seen an increase of over 16000 jobs, property values have increased, and living conditions have improved dramatically. I wish you could see the immense growth in the county over the last 7 years.

I don’t want it to sound like I am saying the only way to improve economically is to bring in car makers, but I am saying that being pro business is a necessity to economic growth. And I think something else very important to many of today’s arguments can be better understood by looking at this example. Is it fair for the government to incentivize a big company to come to town but not all the smaller companies that surround the area? Well, I think it is. Why might you ask? Because by bringing in the big guy, and all the jobs that it will provide, you are helping everybody. With a tax break that brings in a major manufacturer and all the new jobs, Burger King will sell more burgers, the local grocery store sells more groceries, and the local newspaper has higher demand for ad space. Everybody wins. Weird how that can actually work.

The State of Mississippi realized that to bring in jobs, it had to be competitive with the rest of the country. For America to bring in and keep jobs, it has to be competitive with the rest of the world. Raising taxes is counterproductive and will decrease our competitiveness. (Go ahead and cut that corporate tax rate to zero if you will)

The State of Mississippi faces many challenges in the future and I can only hope that the state leaders will take a proactive pro-business approach to building up the State. After spending a year as a Graduate Student at Mississippi State and sitting through countless meetings about the struggles of the Mississippi budget, I know that many thought that the proper measures to cover budget short falls was to increase taxes. But drastic tax increases will drive Mississippi businesses away from the state and make a bad situation worse. Mississippi could vote to end one of the Nissan tax breaks that saves the company $20 Million a year and funnel those funds to education, but I would not be the least bit surprised when Nissan decides to shut down shop and leave the state, giving other potential businesses reason to stay away from this state as well. And I guarantee it would cost the State much more than $20 million in lost tax revenue.

Simply put, cutting taxes works. Even if it’s only for the top. Many disagree. But it’s hard to argue that by raising taxes for those at the top, those with the most mobility, the higher taxes will simply be paid and added revenue will be generated and everyone will walk away with a smile on their face. America could cut taxes and bring jobs back to this country, I truly believe that companies would love to be here, but as is, the tax structure is making it economically unfeasible to stay and some want to make it worse.

As always, I could go on for a while but I tend to start rambling so ill give it a rest. Hope at least some of this makes sense to someone other than me.

Brett