Thursday, September 30, 2004
Tax dollars at work! I hate the public sector. Hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. I hate it even though so many of my customers are public sector entities. The public sector is held hostage by political factions like teachers unions (who seem to like opposing any school-reform proposal that doesn't have exorbitant pay raises as its centerpiece), and somehow your dollars don't go as far as they do in private schools.
Just this morning, I stumbled upon this tale of a Glenbrook North student who was expelled from school because the school district believes he should attend Niles North High School. You see, his father moved to Skokie when his parents divorced and sold their house. The kid's mother moved to her sister's condo in Glenview with the son, who has attended Glenbrook school since 3rd grade. At any rate, the school district doesn't think his living in a condominium satisfies residency requirements.
Sad story, but I literally jumped out of my chair when I led the last paragraph:
Hales said District 225 needs to ensure its students are eligible to receive an education that now costs more than $15,000 per student per year. According to district policy, proving where a student lives is a burden that falls on the student's family.
Hold on, Dr. Hales. It costs $15,000 to educate each GBN student each year? I want my (property tax) money back.
It's been more than 11 years since I graduated from Carmel, but back then, tuition was slightly under $3,000 a year, and the school would make up the difference of what it would cost through fundraisers. So it cost $3,500 per student.
I don't know what Carmel costs these days, but I looked up Loyola Academy in Wilmette.
Tuition for the 2004-2005 school year is $9100 exclusive of books and transportation.
So you could send each student to Loyola Academy AND give them a $6,000 check each year.
Makes me feel good when I look at my property tax bill!
