NEARLY FREE EDUCATION
Dallas runs a pre-school/daycare program which charges only $55 per week. The school district cannot afford to run the program, which operates at a big deficit. They polled parents to see if they’d be willing to either pay more in tuition or raise the student to teacher ratio from 6:1 to 12:1.
The first survey drew 167 responses. Overwhelmingly, they were greatly satisfied with the program. But when asked whether they would agree to pay tuition of $155.22 per week, 81.9 percent of respondents “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed.”
…The district came back with another survey that asked whether parents were willing to pay $115 per week. Of 143 surveys submitted, 82.5 percent said they were unwilling.
The district also asked whether there was support to increase the number of students per teacher from 6-to-1 to 12-to-1. Nearly two-thirds said no.
What a shock! These parents have been paying below market rates and now they’re unwilling to fork over more dough. BTW, the school enrolls mostly teachers’ kids (Sorry I don’t have a link. That’s from another story I read months ago).
The school district ought to get out of the daycare business completely and leave it to the private sector.
UPDATE: Here’s the missing link.
Almost half of the students – 75 of 171 youngsters – are close relatives of DISD teachers and staff members. Two grandchildren of state Sen. Royce West, a prominent Oak Cliff political leader, attend Brashear. Mr. West’s law firm represents DISD on a range of legal matters.