Category: Education
Should Public School Teachers Be Allowed to Join Unions at All?
This broo-ha-ha in Wisconsin with the showdown between the teacher’s unions and the governor has piqued my interest for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that my mother was born there, and my mother was also a public school teacher. I’ve always thought it ridiculous that anybody could be forced to join a union in order to take a job, and I tended to lean towards the idea that government employees should not be allowed to organize, but since getting into libertarian thought I’m not so sure about either of those positions. Let’s think this through … Read the rest of this entry »
Why is Education Public?
There’s nothing quite so encouraging as a bunch of Republicans in a conservative state arguing over how and when to raise taxes. As usual, the debate is over how to increase spending for education. Utah consistently ranks last in spending per pupil, and somehow this is seen as a problem. Here’s an idea, why not lower the taxpayer funded spending to $0 per student?
In 2008, the last year for which data is available (somehow it takes them two years to compile data), spending per pupil in Utah was an average $5,765. Compare that to New York’s $17,173 … Read the rest of this entry »