Private school cost breakdown
Political, School, Economics ·Thursday July 29, 2010 @ 21:15 EDT (link)
Public schools spend around $10k per student (or perhaps up to $25k?); I've also heard floated $15k in DC and $13k in Washington state. Apparently most private schools in DC cost less than $10k per student.
When you think "private school" the image of a school like Eton, or the school in Dead Poets' Society or The Emperor's Club comes to mind: massive and ancient ivy-covered buildings, manicured lawns, vast campus, sports facilities, rich kids in uniforms. Erase that from your mind: we're just talking about schools that are run as privately—like grocery stores or car dealerships or fitness clubs—as corporations, possibly for profit, but not necessarily. Nobody is compelled to give them money as in the state ("public") school system. Their tuition money (and private donations) have to cover all their costs; they don't get any handouts. They don't need to be fancy, or have any more clubs and extra-curriculars than a public school. Nobody needs to wear uniforms (although it's supposed to be conducive to order).
Of course, if all schools are private, people wail, the poor will not get an education! (Please go off and read Stefan Molyneux's book Practical Anarchy if you think that; I'll wait. It'll answer those questions generally. In short, those that are concerned that the poor will not be educated will fund it; and if they will not, then democracy is a sham anyway.)
Let's consider how much a school in a poor neighborhood, populated with hard-working people that want what's best for their children, would cost. It's reasonable to assume that these people can pay $3k/year/student, or for those that cannot afford it (not "don't want to"), private charities will make up the deficit. (These private charities don't have to be politically correct, so they don't have to give money out to people that can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can't afford it; if they did start handing out money where it wasn't truly needed, first, they'd run out—not enough to go around, and second, they'd run out—people would stop donating if they didn't think their money was going to the needy.)
Then let's consider costs. Suppose class size is 30 students, whose parents are paying a total of $90k. Take $60k to pay the teacher and provide reasonable benefits (probably not current union level—I did say reasonable), leaving $30k for overhead. Suppose this particular school has 20 classrooms, bringing the total to $1.8M; $600k remains after paying the teachers. That can be used for building rent, paying a principal and secretary, janitorial services, and perhaps some profit to the owner. No cafeteria; no fancy sports equipment (bring your own, use donations); no extracurriculars that aren't free or paid for by participants. Remember, this is a poor area (which also keeps costs down). If we pay the principal $100k, secretary $30k, $20k for janitorial services, and assume building and grounds rent at $100k, $50k for utilities, there's still $300k left. Maybe we can buy some sports equipment and chess sets after all.
The point is, even though these are ballpark figures, it's quite reasonable to be able to privatize all schooling, quit mulcting non-participants through property taxes, and provide education that is within reach of anyone and everyone—and more likely than not (given history) at better quality than the state, and definitely more efficiently.
Update: A demonstration that my back of the envelope calculation is pretty good. Teresa Middleton charges $3k per child at her private school in Russellville, SC; the kids are excited about school and they do much better than the nearby public schools (which get $8k per child). Source: Stossel, John. Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel—Why Everything You Know is Wrong. New York: Hyperion, 2006.
