Shop At Education Market

My column for the Daily News is online.  It’s called, “Shop At The Education Market.”  It’s particularly relevant considering the actions of the West Bend School Board last night.  Here’s a portion:

In the idealized Lake Wobegon, Wis. School District, the taxpayers of the entire state pay for two-thirds of whatever the district decides to spend through their sales, income and property taxes while the local residents of the district pay for the rest through local property taxes. If the voters of the Lake Wobegon School District elect a board that decides to jack up spending, the voters only bear one-third of the cost of their decisions.

  The result is the same as in the restaurant example above. The market is distorted. After many years of this market being distorted, it’s hard to tell anymore where reality lies anymore.

  Reports began circulating last week that as many as 300,000 teachers may be laid off nationwide due to tight government budgets and Wisconsin is no exception. While this is certainly bad news for hundreds of thousands of teachers and their families, is it a bad thing for the kids and taxpayers?

  Because the market is distorted, it’s difficult to tell. How many years did the school districts jack up spending and staffing levels – especially during good economic times – because the local taxpayers were only paying a fraction of the cost? Also bear in mind that spending increases compound. A 5 percent spending increase for five years is a 27.63 percent spending increase over the base year.

  Here in West Bend, per pupil spending is up 38 percent since the 2000-2001 year. That’s better than in some other districts, but would spending have increased that much had the property taxpayers of the school district borne the full cost of those spending decisions?

  We don’t know. And since we don’t know, we don’t know if staffing levels are currently optimum, overstaffed, or under-staffed in any school district in Wisconsin. All we know is the current staffing level, which was reached after years of making decisions in a distorted market, is almost universally decried as too lean by district administrators and teachers’ unions, and often deemed too fat by others.

  Who is right? That will depend on the district, but we’ll never know the full truth until local taxpayers pay the full cost of the district. If every school district’s taxpayers had to pay for the full cost of their school board’s decisions, then the efficiencies of the district would be better achieved and the priorities of the taxpayers properly reflected.

  Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand is still the best mechanism for achieving the efficiency and excellence at the price the purchaser is willing to pay. It works whenever it’s tried and it should be tried in education.

1. One of the things that used to really bug me as a kid was spending my hard earned ten cents on the latest Superman comic (or 3) ,breathlessly tear into it-only to find that it was “an imaginary tale”-and that it never happened.

   Maybe that episode steered me to Marvel comics (The fantastic 4 and Spiderman) and a college degree studying Mr Smith and the invisible hand.

   His theories have had a rough go lately on Wall Street as the “invisible hand of competition” pushed all the chips to a select few while stiffing the rest of us.

   We are now looking for a new dealer with a better “Hand”

   In any case- my sense is that under this “imaginary tale,there would be as many plus as minus.

   Demand for an education could prove elastic in some area’s, inelastic in others .
   (oodles of choice’s in Brookfield, fewer in Pembine)

   So when a kid has to travel 2 hours to school in Northern Wisconsin because the mill closed and the employers couldn"t compete against 3rd world labor-do we just quote Adam to the kids and parents?

   Both of these concepts (health care and affordable school for all ) are probably unaffordable to many Americans without the subsidation you decry.

   “Let them pay the full price (and eat cake)”

   Problem solved.

   Unlimited access to both is expensive-but a case could be made that both are vital and while costs are a something to be monitored, having it is far preferred to not.

   Even discredited-Mr Smith still works sometimes. Having spent $16 for an Imax presentation of an “OK’ but not great rendition of Iron Man 2, the brand expands to to some his fellow Avengers.

   Maybe Mr Smith only works in comic book adaptation to movies- but who cares.

   Next up- Captain Amercia and (Spoiler alert….................)

   Thor

   Thanks Adam

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 0912 hrs




2. It is easier to spend other peoples money. 

   I think if the taxpayer had to foot the bill, things would change…the belt would get tighter.  If you don’t feel the sting, you usually don’t care.  If you feel the sting you will want to do something to soften the blow.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 0927 hrs




3. Here’s a fact the Owen left out of his article.  Since 1993 the mil rate in WB has gone from app. $14 down to app.$8.  That is a 43% decrease.  While it has gone up recently there have been more down years than up years in the last 17.  That is what revenue caps were supposed to do and that is what they have done.  Tommy promised that it was a temporary fix until a permanent solution to the funding formula could be created.  We, as taxpayers, are still waiting. 

   If you truly believe that you want the full burden of running a school district finacially on the local taxpayer you are crazy.  While you get the realization of the cost you also get all of the unfunded mandates are constitutional requirements that come along with it.  Be carful what you wish for you may just get it.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1011 hrs




4. Maybe you should focus less on comic books and more on the real world.

   Noone is saying that we are eliminating these services, it’s just that people do need to have a direct relationship to the cost.

   The poor kid in northern Wisconsin is still getting his school paid for - but the cost is not hidden under yet another layer of government. If my property taxes go up, but my income tax goes down - where is the effect on poor Johnny from Spooner? Who’s family most likely doesn’t pay either tax?

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1013 hrs




5. Since 1993 the mil rate in WB has gone from app. $14 down to app.$8.  That is a 43% decrease.

   That’s a pretty BS statistic because two-thirds funding was implemented in the early 90s.  The intent of that state program was to take the burden off of the local property taxpayers.  But we see what we always see in these schemes, the taxes at all levels continue to push upward.

   Posted by Owen on May 11, 2010 at 1021 hrs




6. Owen’s argument may be fine philosophically, but his arrangement is also nearly certain to be found in violation of Article X, Section 3 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which defines the state’s role in public education.  Specifically, it charges that “the legislature shall provide by law for the establishment of district schools, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable.”

   The “nearly uniform as practicable” part is what will always obligate some degree of state involvement in financing.  Courts throughout America have traditionally taken provisions like this to mean that the state is required to provide (and finance) some minimum standard of education in each district.  The state can’t allow for some unheated, one-room schoolhouse upstate and some palatial high school in Hartland simply because of the prerogative of local taxpayers.  The state has a constitutional obligation to the education of children that trumps the wishes of taxpayers.

   Does it have to be two-thirds?  Of course not.  But Owen’s suggestion that the state is financing two-thirds of costs is also misleading.  The state repealed that requirement in 2003, but aside from that, the state never got to two-thirds in the first place.  The closest it got was 62.3% in the 1999-2000 school year.  At present, it’s closer to 59-60%.

   What should or should not be included in a “nearly uniform” education is a debate that could rage on for years.  But that the state is obligated to ensure that it’s provided in every district and to every student is beyond question.

   Posted by Recess Supervisor on May 11, 2010 at 1046 hrs




7. RS is correct.  The 2/3 funding was never achieved and the mil rate decrease cannot be fully attributed to that alone.  The numbers RS uses are state averages and most districts like WB that are considered “property rich” never got beyond 55%.  A large part of the mil rate decrease is revenue caps.

   The intent of that state program was to take the burden off of the local property taxpayers.

   And yet that program has been abandoned except for the revenue caps and now the burden is being shifted to taxpayers again.  That is a bipartisan issue.  A lack of backbone on the part of legislators has created a problem that will end up costing everyone a lot of money.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1102 hrs




8. Pay for my kids education!  Do it, do it now or I will send men with guns to your house to force you to do it!  Might makes right!

   Posted by Jay4Liberty on May 11, 2010 at 1153 hrs




9. The state can’t allow for some unheated, one-room schoolhouse upstate and some palatial high school in Hartland simply because of the prerogative of local taxpayers. 

   Setting aside the ambiguity of the word “practicable” for the moment, what would be the solution to that? Prevent districts from spending more? From doing more? Or on the other end giving low-spending, under performing districts more money?

   I’d certainly hope it’s not the former - I don’t want to live in a place where the state can squash the commitment to education of my local district. Said commitment - as evident by spending, but more importantly what is actually done with the money and how the district is managed is the single largest factor in my decision to live where I do. And it’s not like I’m in a rich suburb or something, it’s a small town, with a lot of farmers. I have a difficult time coming up with too much sympathy for districts where the voters don’t give a damn. All the money in the world won’t do much when the parents don’t care.

   Worst of all, it sets up an environment where there’s disincentive to perform. Waste money & get poor results…get more money. Meanwhile effective & efficient districts that maximize productivity - that get as much quality eduction as they can while keeping spending under control - we’re rewarded by more of out property tax dollars going out of district.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1316 hrs




10. Pay for my kids education!

    I assume the same sentiment applies to “send your kids at point of gun to die in some foolish war”.
    How about we apply that same logic to the military – something that Owen likes.
    Adam Smith is spinning in his grave over the use of the “invisible hand” to excuse Wall Street malfeasance. He specifically applied this to the means of production, such as the distribution of raw materials. He would have deemed the financial 40% of GDP (e.g. derivatives) as non-productive. He would further be appalled at ethanol tariffs, bailouts, farm subsidies, etc.
    I’m not sure what he would have thought about public education.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on May 11, 2010 at 1322 hrs




11. I too would be uncomfortable with the state restricting any additional financial commitment a local community might wish to make.  I think that matter is ambiguous.  Would it be enough to meet a minimum standard and then free local communities to do as they wish?  It might be.

    I think the important point here is that Wisconsin constitutionally guarantees a certain minimum level of education to children regardless of how effed up or stingy or unsupportive their communities or their parents may be.  Whether the kids are able to maximize their use of those resources is, of course, affected by a lot of different variables, many of which we can’t control.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on May 11, 2010 at 1401 hrs




12. Adam Smith’s opinion of WEAC should be pretty obvious…

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1408 hrs




13. As a first world country, we’ve made the collective decision to provide a basic education to all children under the reasonable assumption that too many people would spend their own money for short term gratification and not on the long term investment into their children’s future. We do this for two basic reasons: to prepare children to be good citizens in our democracy, and to prepare them to be productive citizens in our economy. Good idea.
    But, the current monopoly of public education almost ensures in the long run an inefficient system for many of the reasons Owen states.
    So, how to get the best of both worlds? Just one option occurs to me: school choice.
    If the state continued to fund basic education but allowed parents to decide (between some reasonable options) who got the money for their children’s education, it would seem that we could continue to reap the societal benefit of universal education but with greater efficiencies derived from a freer market.
    It’s working for the Dutch.
    Anyone out there with compelling arguments against such a system?

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on May 11, 2010 at 1437 hrs




14. Nope.

    Posted by Owen on May 11, 2010 at 1446 hrs




15. The only question is, “what is the minimum level of education standards that all schools would have to meet?”  Would the privates, paraochials, charters and so on be held to the same standards as the publics?  If the answer is yes, then the system could work.  If the publics could charge for services and credit and take the burden off of the taxpayer then yes.

    This system to work will require at least one constitutional change and that will be very difficult.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1512 hrs




16. You can either starve the beast or try to compete with the beast.

    I’m all for doing both.  I’d like to see more charter schools rolling in Wisconsin to put the competitive heat on the public school monopoly. 

    There are a number of national charter operators both for profit and not for profit that seem to be doing well.  The KIPP program is working very well in many inner city locations nationally.  Our next Governor should recruit them to open a school in the inner city of Milwaukee or subcontract out to them some of the failing public schools.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1518 hrs




17. last time I checked ... privates and charters set the standard…

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1520 hrs




18. The only question is, “what is the minimum level of education standards that all schools would have to meet?” 

    Anon, I understand your concern and certainly the state would have the power to specify performance standards and decertify schools unable to meet them.
    And, of course, the state would have the option of putting a bigger price tag on children with special needs.
    But, have some faith in parents. Who would keep their kids in a school that is not performing? That is the beauty of the free market – many people making decisions rather than a few with vested interests.
    I am fond of the assertion that if the government were totally responsible for the fight against polio, we’d have the best iron lung ever made.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on May 11, 2010 at 1539 hrs




19. Charlie
    I like the school choice idea its something everyone could live with. Competition keeps everyone honest and is always good for the consumer.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1618 hrs




20. The invisible hand is at work as this is written

    We have choice in Milwaukee and charter schools that fail monthly.

    Both of these panacea’s have been applied there and its still rotten for kids.

    Fix the hard problems first board wizards

    The completely well adjusted ,2 parent families represented on this board have a choice everyday in Wisconsin.

    Move to a better , cheaper, more conservative, less conservative school district .

    What about the kids who are stuck?

    Who speaks for them?

    and regarding the charter and public schools doing better-
    when any problem kid (discipline, slowness etc) gets shoved to the public school- of course the schools are better- and the teachers will take far less to work in them.

    The smart , family supported kids grow up on third base educationally

    The city kids don’t even get in the ball park

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1806 hrs




21. Mark - I agree with your points - but how is the school system supposed to fix that?

    People make their choices in life. Unfortunately - their kids also pay the price for them. I don’t see how it is society’s job to fix that.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1831 hrs




22. People make their choices in life. Unfortunately - their kids also pay the price for them. I don’t see how it is society’s job to fix that.

    Because unfortunately Bill, you and I and everyone else end up bearing the responsibility of not fixing it - whether it’s through the costs of maintaining a persistent underclass, the financial and social costs of higher crime rates/alcoholism/drug abuse, the problems that come with urban blight, the costs of added law enforcement, the costs and stress on our judicial system and our corrections facilities.  On and on and on.

    At the end of the day, we all pay for it.  I don’t disagree that schools are an imperfect vehicle to address the myriad of problems that many of our communities face.  But on the other hand, they are still the only widely accepted avenue of entry we have into many of these communities when it comes to trying to improve some of these conditions.

    Sure, it’d be easier to just have government take kids from many of these dysfunctional homes in dysfunctional neighborhoods and put them in well-to-do neighborhoods with well-to-do families that send their kids to well-to-do schools.  But there are legal problems with that approach.

    It’s an ugly situation, but giving up isn’t really an option unless you’re prepared to watch suburban families move further out every generation as the problems they’re not addressing continue to grow and expand.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on May 11, 2010 at 1850 hrs




23. Recess—will the public educational establishment let us try to fix things?

    i.e. what about doing away with tenure?

    How about school uniforms in the public schools?

    How about merit pay rather than pay via seniority?

    How about setting up a bonus pot that rewards employees in school districts that are able to reduce costs?

    What about more standardized curriculum that emphasizes basics like reading, writing, math and US history instead of multi-cultural studies and all that other crap?

    The public school monopoly seems to manage for its own benefit and protecting the rights of the lowest common denominator in the system rather than working for the greater good.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1905 hrs




24. RS - the point is - we CAN’T fix it.

    No matter how much money you dump in - there isn’t anyway to “fix” a dysfunctional family and/or culture. Inner city Milwaukee is the perfect example. Look at the billions of dollars spent there - has anything improved?

    The only thing that helped was getting a police chief who actually went after the gangs.

    I agree it would be great if we could do something - you show me something that works - I’m all for it. But dumping billions into it hasn’t worked. So yes - I’m giving up. Until the culture changes in the inner city or wherever you get a collection of dysfunctional people who don’t want to put the work in to be a productive member of society - nothing will change no matter how much you throw at it.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 1930 hrs




25. And my point Bill is that by giving up, you’ll just end up spending even more money, since things like incarceration costs and law enforcement and other matters related to personal safety are way more expensive than anything we’re spending in some of our public schools.  You don’t have to reach every kid in order to reap a huge financial windfall from the ones who are redirected from a more felonious lifestyle.

    I agree that there are few good options available, that most of the issues in these communities are cultural issues and not educational issues, and that it’s extremely difficult for government to address those problems effectively.

    Steve, I’m certainly not against trying some of the things you’ve mentioned, or a million other ideas out there.  I don’t think anyone has an exclusive domain on good ideas.  I think we also need to set responsible and realistic goals in many of these situations.  It’s unfair, for instance, to expect teachers to turn around generations of social dysfunction and educational underperformance in just a few years, especially without solid leadership from their administrators.  I suspect that we would both agree that the failings of many urban schools are way less about money and teachers than they are about a lack of quality leadership from administrators.

    Posted by Recess Supervisor on May 11, 2010 at 2019 hrs




26. Despite the unwillingness to invest in youth, their stats are decent: “What the press, police, and “experts” will never mention: Overall youth crime, as measured by arrests for serious “index” offenses (eight major violent and property offenses) fell to its lowest level ever reported in 46 years of records (national crime reports, far less complete than today, began in 1960). Further, rape declined substantially, reaching its lowest rate since 1964. All eight major offenses are lower today than in 1990, and seven of the eight (only assault, whose definitions and policing have expanded) are lower today than in 1970. …As a generation, youth have never been less criminal than they are today—despite massive increases in crime among their middle-aged parents in the last two decade’s (Mike Males - youthfacts.org/crim2006.html). 

    “Does money well spent improve the performance of poorer students?  In the late 1980s, the Los Angeles Unified School District implemented a ten schools program, which provided $1,000,000 more per year to each of the schools that were all black or Latino and had the district’s lowest state test scores.  The additional money funded smaller class sizes, higher staff quality, intensive reading programs, and full time nurses (vs a weekly nurse visit as was norm).  The LA average spending was $4,297 in 1995-1996; the injection brought spending up to $5,097 per student (The U.S. average at the time was $6,200.  Improvements were dramatic:  Comparing 1991-1994 with 1987-1990, reading scores at the 10 target schools jumped at ALL grade levels: up 50% amongst first graders and 24% amongst 5th graders.  This occurred even with a growing Latino population with limited English proficiency entering those schools the years of the experiment. Unfortunately, 2/3rds of Californians believed that raising standards was a better tactic than increasing financial investment.  Would adults apply the expectations of higher quality with less outlay to their own lives and businesses?”  (348-349).  There’s a reason the “liberal” media keeps this information and similiar stories under wraps: Taxes for schools hurt their companies’, their executives’, and their investors’ bottom line, for the moment.

    “Voucher advocates cite Milw, WI, as their crown jewel.  The 100,000 student system is roughly 70% black.  The dropout rate in 2008 was 46% (down from 50%).  In 2006, the population of 6,173 was Black 74.5%; Hispanic 14.5%; White 5%; Asian/Pacific Islander 4%; American Indian or Alaska Native <1%; and Econ. Disadvantaged 77%.

    In 1990, Milwaukee Choice Program gave parents $3,000 per child in voucher funds, equal to what at the time the tax payers paid to have a students educated in the public school system.  The vouchers could go to private schools.  The private schools did not have to accept spec-educ students.  The voucher advocates could pick and choose which voucher schools and test years test scores they would submit for scrutiny. If unprofitable, the schools were not required to stay open.  Ultimately, the plan enabled middle class students’ parents with $3,000 in hand to be able to afford private schools.  According to research conducted by John Witte of UW-Madison, the students who transferred from public to private saw no noticeable increase in reading and math scores especially when controlling results for race, gender, income, grade, and prior achievement (Mike Males - Framing Youth: 10 myths about the next generation 350).  Essentially, voucher schools raise the cost of education for all and enable the vocal better-off to get out of the weaker system without fixing the issues affecting the silent majority.

    *Doing away with tenure:  It’s being done in many states with the support of Dem and Republicans; meanwhile, in my city, an un-improving weak teacher is dismissed.
    *School uniforms: I like the idea, but the successful schools that adopted this idea also used other solutions.  More research is needed.
    *Merit pay: I am for it, if the merit pay evaluation system is objective.  Issues: How does one judge the spec ed teacher? No regression?  The P.E. teacher? Calories burned?  The art teacher? Da Vinci vs. Picasso vs. ???
    *A bonus pot that rewards employees in school districts that are able to reduce costs?  This is an excellent idea.
    *More standardized curriculum: Fact: Art was well funded except between 1945 and 1990.  Cultural studies are proven to reduce race, religious, gender and cultural conflict.  Note: The U.S. is more diverse than any other nation. Standardized curriculum: This is worth a 100p response.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 11, 2010 at 2148 hrs




27. I’m glad to see some of you liberal guys are willing to look at drastic solutions. 

    Go back to Daniel Moynihan’s paper on out of wedlock births from 40-years ago and the social problems he predicted the breakdown of the African American family would bring.  From what i read, in 2008, 72% of all African American children were born out of wedlock.  This is the reason for the problems we face in the inner city schools.

    I have no problem spending money in a robust way there.  But let’s clean out the broken system.  Since the parents have abdicated their responsibilities, the school needs to become the father and not just the mother with free meals and daycare services.  This means things like uniforms, accountability, longer school days, maybe classes on Saturday. 

    And it means dumping a lot of this ridiculous feel good social curriculum in favor of strong job training programs for practical skills. 

    The current leadership and methods of MPS have gone nowhere.  Time for a completely new model.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 12, 2010 at 0010 hrs




28. The invisible hand is at work as this is written

    Mark, Mark, Mark. How can you be my best bud and yet so misguided? Softballs heading out of the park.

    We have choice in Milwaukee and charter schools that fail monthly.

    Perhaps true. Same for some public schools. The great thing is that we no longer pay for the former. Plus, there are certainly some that really work well.

    Both of these panacea’s have been applied there and its still rotten for kids.

    Really? Startups with short term contracts compete with entrenched monopolies with significant asset bases, AND, wait for it, the state gives the startups significantly less per student. That’s considered giving it a shot? Really?

    Fix the hard problems first board wizards

    You know that I have wizard tendencies and have tried my absolute best. It makes competing with GE and Intel seem like a cakewalk. This can’t be solved at the local Board level.

    The completely well adjusted ,2 parent families represented on this board have a choice everyday in Wisconsin

    .
    If we don’t fix this system we will end up like the south where anyone of means has completely abandoned the public system. Mississippi, here we come.

    Move to a better , cheaper, more conservative, less conservative school district .

    Pretty hard to get cheaper or more conservative when you live in West Bend. And yet even here we see a relentless increase in cost and no improvement in results. You are the master rep – would that wok for your business?

    What about the kids who are stuck?

    You mean like the MPS kids. Yea, that sucks.

    Who speaks for them?

    Perhaps WEAC, NOT! Give me a high 5, Crusher!

    and regarding the charter and public schools doing better- when any problem kid (discipline, slowness etc) gets shoved to the public school- of course the schools are better- and the teachers will take far less to work in them.

    A differential based on need solves this. And, quite frankly, the public schools routinely expel problem kids who have no choice but to pay for the private option.

    The smart , family supported kids grow up on third base educationally

    True, and your point? Drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator?

    The city kids don’t even get in the ball park

    That’s the way it is now – I’d like to change that. Why are liberals so resistant to any change of a system that worked real well back in the 1890’s?
    So, Mark, BW3’s on Friday? I apparently still have my work cut out for me.

    Posted by Charlie Hillman on May 12, 2010 at 0139 hrs




29. Big O

    really think you should put up J Pentermens"s letter of response in the Snews today

    If for no other reason than the headline

    “Robinson doesn"t know Smith”  (pretty funny even if you agreed with the imaginary tale.

    I fear JP is correct

    Obviously the liberal local media co-operated in the headline.

    If they only gave right a chance to express themselves weekly.

    It’s so unfair.

    ——-

    Chas-  Edmund Kean (the greatest of Shakesperian actor’s is thought to have said “dying is easy, Comedy is hard.” Also a line in a very under appreciated move- “MY Favorite Year”

    Although I detect a paucity of egalitarianism in your response, it once again reinforces that “educational remedies are easy (even from those as selflessly involved in the system as you have been ), education is hard.”

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 12, 2010 at 1242 hrs




30. Owen doesn’t know Smith.
    In his 5/11/10 column, Owen Robinson’s writes, “Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand is still the best mechanism for achieving the efficiency and excellence at the price the purchaser is willing to pay. It works whenever it’s tried and it should be tried in education.” Owen doesn’t know Smith.  Adam Smith considered the insatiable desire to become rich a mental illness (52). Smith never claimed education contributed to national prosperity, only free trade; a division of labor added to that (105).  Smith said public education’s role was necessary to correct the flaws created as by-products of the same processes that produce wealth (106): Artificial environments created by free trade and unregulated competition cause psychological damage: Workers become spineless, brainless, lazy, and apathetic to all but their base urges.  He believed only schools could heal the damage caused by capitalism to community and individuality.  According to Smith, the father of capitalism, the children of the best and the lowliest, all children, have the same talents that can be awakened by training: Without “subject for thought and speculation”, they become “deformed” and cannot handle complex thinking; their power of judgment for small to complex matters is lessened (Gatto - Weapons of Mass Instruction).  Smith’s publisher, William Playfair, created the expression “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” to explain his ideas that it’s not that common people are too stupid to learn: Rather, they are too smart to be allowed to learn (107), i.e., keep the commoners dumb.”  Playfair argued that the middle and lower classes education should be replaced with psychological conditioning in habits and attitudes of hunger for wealth, envy of the wealthy, respect for the wealthy, and a mistrust of self, to preserve capitalism and its benefits: privilege for the wealthy and their friends and family.
    Jason Penterman, West Bend

    Posted in WB Daily News today.  They chose the title. 
    I cite my sources.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 12, 2010 at 1258 hrs




31. Our entitlement spending is a big part of the problem.  I grew up in a crappy MPS neighborhood.  And the work ethic among the families in the housing projects was non existent.  We tossed so much money at them, that they lived much better than my family ever could.  To me the answer to fix the inner city is to do away with ALL entitlements, or at the very least link them to actual work.  Reup the CCC.  If you want a handout, you work 40 hard hours doing something valuable to earn it.  If you show up late or don’t come to work, you get no check. 

    As for the schools, we need to blow up the unions.  If we paid the prevailing market wages for teachers, we could almost cut class sizes in half.  Pius and Marquette, etc, educate kids as well or better, while paying probably half what we pay the union teachers.

    Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 12, 2010 at 1419 hrs