April 2002
Schools Have Many Problems, but Money not Foremost
Funding Quality Education in New York” [by Michael A. Rebell and Joseph J. Wardenski, February 2002] is an advocacy article without critical analysis or rebuttal, and I am at a loss to fathom why it was published.
The problems of New York schools are many but money may not be the greatest of these. The schools are grossly top-heavy with central office staff that waste money that belongs in the classrooms. Look at the ratio of administrators and central office staff to teachers versus the ratio of teachers to pupils. New York administrators are largely a crop of teachers who couldn’t teach, got shunted into administration, and cannot administer either. Tenure and unions complete the picture of what is wrong with schools. There is little accountability and low expectations. Throwing more money into this mess just enlarges the mess without addressing the above issues. Schools are big business and should have similar accountability, rather than an open pursestrings mentality.
Edward J. Lynd, CPA (Retired)
Rochester, N.Y.
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