More Numbers in the School Discussion
The Albany Business Review has not yet released all the rankings from its 2015 Schools Report, and it's not clear how much more of the data will be published online. Last year, there was an analysis of how much districts spent per student, accompanied by an estimate of the school taxes paid on a $300,000 home. For the Hudson City School District, the cost per student was $22,972, and the estimated tax on a $300,000 home was $3,777.
The entire article and the data for all the school districts in the Capital Region can be found here. It's interesting, though, to compare the HCSD numbers with those for the four school districts that fell below HCSD in this year's rankings and four school districts that were at the top of the list.
First, the four school districts that ranked below HCSD in 2015: Gloversville, Green Island, Schenectady, and Albany.
Now, the four school districts at the top of the list for 2015: Bethlehem, Niskayuna, North Colonie, and Voorheesville.
According to these numbers, HCSD in 2013-2014 spent more per student than the districts at the bottom of the ranking and at the top of the ranking--in most instances only slightly more, in one instance (Schenectady) significantly more. (The full list reveals that twenty-three districts in the Capital Region spent more per student than HCSD.) In our small study, what property owners in the Hudson City School District contribute in school taxes appears to be significantly less than the taxes paid either in districts at the bottom of the list or in districts at the top of the list. (In 2014, there were only fifteen districts in the Capital Region where the estimated tax on a $300,000 home was less than $3,777.)
Readers may draw whatever conclusions they will from these numbers. The most obvious seems to be that there is no direct correlation between the amount of money invested in public education and quality of the outcome.
COPYRIGHT 2015 CAROLE OSTERINK
The money question is the 64 thousand dollar question, so to speak. But these figures clearly show what most of the good research shows: it's not how much money you spend but how you spend it that counts. (See http://jaypgreene.com/2015/07/07/does-money-matters-after-all/). Hudson's per student expenditure is nearly double that of the national average! Several years ago I chaired an HCSD task force that produced a report with 50 recommendations to improve student academic achievement (http://www.hudsoncityschooldistrict.com/boe/taskforce/TFSAP_Draft_Report_100222.pdf). I encourage the BOE, parents, and taxpayers to review that report and start to implement it.
ReplyDelete"For the Hudson City School District, the cost per student was $22,972, and the estimated tax on a $300,000 home was $3,777."
ReplyDeleteI can only speak for myself but I WISH that was correct.
That concept has no reality concerning the school tax on my property.
Vincent I think that is school tax only.
ReplyDeleteThe total tax would be more like 6,000.
I think I misunderstood this - its about tax on a residential property - my place is commercial - which gets a different percentage - of course.
ReplyDelete