A WARNING FROM NEW YORK – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  I think this is the second time in recent weeks that we've run that headline.  New York has, along with California, always been a major social laboratory that often influences other states.  But New York is an absolute mess, with a third of its young people indicating a wish to leave.   So now New York has become a warning sign.  Don't do things this way.  Consider this, from The New York Post:

New York state's school systems deserve an F -- in financial accountability.

State taxpayers spend substantially more money on education than any other state in the nation but get far less in return on their investment, according to a shocking new federal study released yesterday.

New York schools on average spent $18,126 per student in the 2008-2009 school year -- tops in the nation, the Census Bureau reports.

That's nearly $2,000 more than the $16,271 spent in neighboring New Jersey and 80 percent higher than the national average of $10,499.

But the Empire State's four-year high-school graduation rate of 73.5 percent ranked a lowly 39th in the nation, two points below the national average, according to a separate analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics.
By comparison, Massachusetts -- which spends $4,000 less per student -- has an 83 percent graduation rate.

New York has doubled its per-student spending over 10 years. For five consecutive years the state has spent the most per student in the nation.

COMMENT:  New York has been going to a party for years, a party paid for by Wall Street and real-estate bubbles, and ridiculously high state taxes.  We've been told, of course, that it's all "for the children."  It is always is.  Must not cheat the "children." 

Now we see that, no matter how much is spent on what passes for education, the results are catastrophic.  Education is a business, and in New York it's big business.  The biggest losers are minority kids, whose parents are told by local "community" hustlers that the more we spend on education, the better it will be for their families.  No, it's usually better only for the hustlers, whose friends wind up on the school payrolls.

Don't do education our way.

May 27, 2011