Teachers who educate Colorado’s 900,000 children are regularly priced out of homeownership in the districts where they teach and learning pods are springing up to combat the challenge.
When Lisbeth Redandes learned that the lease to the apartment, she shared with her boyfriend was up at the end of May, she panicked. Having accepted a position in Gypsum, 30 miles west of Vail, she realized that $1,600 per month for a one-bedroom apartment was far out of her price range.
“I know that there are people that can afford those prices, but the teachers can’t,” she said, speaking to CPR News. “I don’t like the sensation of not knowing what will happen.”
The teachers’ union has a simple remedy: A tax increase. They cite that Colorado’s expenditure per student is in the bottom one-third nationally.
Conservatives generally say, “Not so fast.” They point to the disproportionate growth of school administration compared to actual student and faculty numbers. This is an ongoing trend nationwide.
Administrative Bloat the Center of the Problem
Minnesota provides plausible evidence. While school district administrative growth in the state has not mirrored that across the nation, principal/assistant principal growth (a separate category) in the state is nearly 10 times greater than teacher growth between 2000 and 2019, according to Minnesota data from the National Center for Education Statistics compiled by American Experiment.
Closer to home, Colorado’s overall spending per student is low but administrative cost ranks in the top 1/3, per Colorado Politics. Of Colorado’s $9,575 in per-student spending, $5,423 is for instruction (No. 41 among the states), of which $3,759 is for instructional salaries (No. 38) and $1,069 is for benefits (No. 44). Colorado per-pupil spending also includes $149 for general administration (No. 39 among the states) and $695 for school administration (No. 18).
Amazingly, this practice is the norm, not the exception. More and more Coloradans and Americans are questioning those in charge. It may begin with the misappropriation of existing funds.
Learning Pods – Refocusing Educational Priorities
There is also the question of overall priorities. There are calls for more classical education. This includes more math, science, foreign languages and history that departs from the revisionist variety.
Reported harassment of conservative students and the Biden Administration’s focus on Critical Race Theory and wokeism expands the dialogue. In increasing numbers, parents are calling for alternative methods of teaching. Beginning with learning pods.
The COVID pandemic taught everyone that working from home is not only doable but practical. Educational learning pods would prove equally efficient. Here is how it would work.
No more than eight students would comprise a pod. Parents would select teachers to conduct virtual classes. The cost varies greatly for learning pods but could translate into a financially attractive alternative to educators from traditional schooling.
Two questions: Could this number be reduced? And could monies be recovered from other educational expenditures to facilitate it?
Unquestionably, more teachers would become available with this new financial support. As reported by CNBC on Aug. 14, 2020, divided three ways the $183,400 (national average) equates to $61,133 per teacher. Teaching eight students accompanied by supportive parents would be attractive to educators.
Better yet, teachers such as Lisbeth Redandes would not be forced to seek housing in expensive areas such as Gypsum. Working virtually, she could reside where she chose, concentrating on the important task at hand: Educating children.
Expect Repercussions from the Teachers’ Union
It is a certainty that the teachers’ union would object, citing reduced emphasis on diversity and traditional teaching axioms as reasons. They would warn that increases in parental oversight would translate to interference and ultimately lead to division.
Parents’ comeback would center around the need to escape the top-down agenda. They would point out that John Dewey, the inspirational father of public education, was a Marxist and his standard set our country on what many consider, a dangerous path.
Proponents would likewise remind the unions the 10th amendment does not list education as a federal responsibility. There continues to be a preference by conservatives to abolish the Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
The Crisis is not Going Away
“Colorado’s public education system is in crisis,” said Michael Maes, president of the Pueblo Education Association, “Our students don’t deserve this.”
“In my 22 years in DPS, I have never seen the district have such a difficult time filling positions and keeping schools functioning, ultimately leading to further stress on students and educators,” said Denver Public Schools high school English teacher Amber Wilson to CPR News.
In seeking a better education for our children, learning pods may solve two challenges: better-paying positions for teachers and affordable housing anywhere.
