Successful schools and money

by David Safier

No, more money isn't the solution to improving education. Good teachers — enough of them to give students individual attention — good adminstrators, clear goals and adequate supplies are what it takes to improve students' learning. But the thing is, most of that stuff costs money.

Two cases in point:

1. Obama visited TechBoston Academy yesterday, a Boston public school (not a charter), to talk about education. The school has 89% black or hispanic students, and 86% of students are on free and reduced lunch. Its test scores, student attendance and college attendance after graduation all look terrific. It's what people talk about when they say they want schools to boost students' achievement.

The school, which opened in 2002, gets a little bit of help. Every student gets a laptop, possibly because of the money the Gates Foundation gives to the school. Cisco Systems provided the wireless data infrastructure. Google gives the school help. UMass Boston and Harvard give teachers extra training. Local companies provide internships for students. Students are offered summer tutoring sessions.

Money, money, money.

2. New York is looking at new  strategies to improve schools  with low academic rankings. One of the solutions is to turn some schools into charters, and they'e working with the charter network, Green Dot America, which first made its mark in Los Angeles where, among other schools, it took over Locke High School in Watts. The article doesn't say whether Locke students made academic gains, but it does talk about money:

One of the criticisms of Green Dot’s work at Locke has been that it costs far more per student than at traditional schools.

Money, money, money.

If anyone tells you about the "charter school miracle" in the film, Waiting for Superman, ask how much the schools praised in the film spend per student. The answer is, lots more than the cost per student at the local traditional public schools. Lots more. Most of the top achieving charters get all kinds of outside funding beyond state dollars.

Money, money, money. It doesn't work educational miracles all by itself, but miracles are hard to come by without it.