So, there is an effort afoot in the Maricopa to merge school districts. The idea is to create more efficient and cost effective districts, essentially to get more money in classrooms and pay teachers more. Please don't take my explanation as an endorsement, I am not sure where I stand. The Arizona Republic has this article in today's paper. When I first read about this it sounded like a good idea at least in theory. After reading the article today, I am not so sure... Teachers oppose it and parents from both poor and wealthier districts oppose it. It specifically talks about the Madison district, which is excellent and some of the poorer districts (Balz, Wilson, etc). Their reasoning seems quite sound. That is enough to give me pause.
Plus, why is the head of a financial company leading this effort? What expertise could he possible have when it comes to education? Can anyone out there shed more light on all of this? Do we really want greater efficiency at the cost of disrupting districts that are currently excelling?
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2 comments:
Aside from some potential finacial benefits, the move for district unification in Maricopa County is supposed to bring better alignment of curriculum in the various elementary (K-8) districts that feed Phoenix Union HS District. Sounds good in theory, but there are just too many political issues. One district means one school board, one central administration. Who stays and who goes???
Unifying several districts into one huge one makes no sense. ADE and the legislature are constantly ragging on Tucson Unified as being too large and administratively top-heavy. The new unified Phoenix district would most likely end up worse.
One of the major issues here that people rarely talk about is teacher salaries. High school teachers make $20,000 - $35,000 more a year than elementary teachers. Would everyone get a raise? Probably not. Most of the high school teachers would experience pay cuts.
Teachers in all of these districts already pay upwards of $1,000 a month to have their families receive health benefits. Cutting the pay of veteran teachers when they are already being underpaird, may be just enough to send them to another line of work.
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