Charters, Vouchers - Student exodus costing district

[The Straight Story]

CHARTERS, VOUCHERS
Student exodus costing district

Columbus City Schools are losing students to charter schools and private schools faster than district officials predicted, requiring financial planners to cut other budgeted spending.

Since last school year, the district has lost 2,003 students to charter schools and private schools through vouchers.

The district budgeted for a loss of about 1,250 students, with an expected cost of about $77 million. Columbus schools will lose $7 million more than that.

The total general fund budget for the district is $667 million.

"We're running behind," Budget Director Robyn Essman recently told a committee of district officials and residents. "In and of itself, it's not something we control. But it's something we have to cover."

About 10,692 students in the Columbus school district attend charters. An additional 1,806 use vouchers to pay for private-school tuition. About 52,000 attend district public schools.


http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/04/04/charters.ART_ART_04-04-09_A1_4KDF26N.html?sid=101
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Columbus schools will extend class time, start earlier in day

Students in Columbus schools will have to wake up as much as 90 minutes earlier to get to school on time in the fall. The district is adding a period to the school day, reversing a cut made in 2006.

The typical day at a high school or middle school is just over six hours long.

Next school year, those students will be in class for seven hours. The morning bell will ring at 7:30 a.m. for most high schools and middle schools, instead of the current 8:23 a.m. or 8:53 a.m.
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When the later start times were approved in 2006, the main goal was to save money. But district officials also said that later starts might improve academics by allowing students to get more sleep.

Schedules for athletics and extracurricular activities prohibited adding the extra hour to the end of the school day. District officials said they also did not want to risk elementary students having to walk to or from home in the dark.

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/04/04/timechange.ART_ART_04-04-09_B4_I3DF2PG.html?sid=101

Choice is good to have, especially when you live in a crappy school district. Public schools need to cut the overhead admin costs and focus more pay and resources on those who see the students and interact with them directly day to day - teachers, principals, janitors, lunchroom workers. The rest of the people work to ensure that those people have what they need to do their job - sadly it sometimes seems though they work to ensure their own jobs at the expense of others.