No Runny Eggs

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Fran Tarkenton fired one more touchdown over the heads of the teacher unionistas:

Imagine the National Football League in an alternate reality. Each player’s salary is based on how long he’s been in the league. It’s about tenure, not talent. The same scale is used for every player, no matter whether he’s an All-Pro quarterback or the last man on the roster. For every year a player’s been in this NFL, he gets a bump in pay. The only difference between Tom Brady and the worst player in the league is a few years of step increases. And if a player makes it through his third season, he can never be cut from the roster until he chooses to retire, except in the most extreme cases of misconduct.

Let’s face the truth about this alternate reality: The on-field product would steadily decline. Why bother playing harder or better and risk getting hurt?

No matter how much money was poured into the league, it wouldn’t get better. In fact, in many ways the disincentive to play harder or to try to stand out would be even stronger with more money.

Of course, a few wild-eyed reformers might suggest the whole system was broken and needed revamping to reward better results, but the players union would refuse to budge and then demonize the reform advocates: “They hate football. They hate the players. They hate the fans.” The only thing that might get done would be building bigger, more expensive stadiums and installing more state-of-the-art technology. But that just wouldn’t help.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the NFL in this alternate reality is the real -life American public education system….

Not bad for an ex-Viking.

A new report from University of Minnesota sociologist John Robert Warren shows participants in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program graduated at a 18% higher rate than students in Milwaukee Public Schools in 2008, or 77% versus 65%:

High school dropouts earn less, contribute less to the tax base, and are more likely to go to prison — sobering facts that underscore the importance of a new study showing that the graduation rate for students in Milwaukee’s 20-year-old school choice program was 18 percent higher than for students in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

The findings, from a leading national expert who analyzed six years of data, estimate that 3,352 additional Milwaukee students would have received diplomas between 2003 and 2008 if public school graduation rates had matched those of low-income students using educational vouchers. Based on a separate study reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Erin Richards, the annual impact from 3,352 more MPS graduates would include an additional $21.2 million in personal income and $3.6 million in extra tax revenue.

“This new study deserves the attention of state and federal officials — including President Barack Obama — who seek education reforms that produce solid results,” said Jeff Monday, principal of Milwaukee’s nationally recognized Messmer High School.

The author of the new study, University of Minnesota Professor John Robert Warren, estimated a 2008 graduation rate of 77% for school choice students and 65% for public school students. The difference — twelve percentage points — translates into an 18% higher rate for voucher students. Dr. Warren found a similar average difference for the six-year period of 2003 through 2008….

The higher graduation rates for students in Milwaukee’s private school choice program are noteworthy because per pupil taxpayer support for choice students ($6,442) is less than half the $14,011 spent in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

In the new study, Professor Warren explains that eligibility for the choice program is limited to students from low-income families while “students in MPS schools come from a much broader range of social and economic backgrounds.”

Once again, it is not either the amount of money the parents have or the amount of money dumped into teachers, administrators, staff or facilities; it is motivated students, parents and teachers that make the difference in whether an education system is a success or a failure.

(H/T – Slublog)

The New York Times reports on a bunch of college slackers who got introduced to a bit of grade reality. They seem to think that a failed effort is worth more than a “C”. They should be thankful that the lesson is gentle; once they hit the real world, a failed effort, regardless of the amount of effort poured in, is a failure.

Here’s an act that goes against the grain:

Northwestern rescinds honorary degree offer to Rev. Wright
It’s not often that you see one of the country’s institutes of higher learning turning their back on a CAH (Certified American Hater). Usually they reward them.

On a related note, I hear that the University of Colorado has indicated a desire to hire Jeremiah Wright as they are still one CAH short of a cabal since they terminated Ward Churchill.

(H/T – Jon Ham)

Jon wondered how Durham, North Carolina ranked 20th in Forbes’ current list of Top 20 Places to Educate Your Child. The story from The Hearld-Sun pointed out that “(t)he article does not consider student achievement, dropouts or suspensions "” some of the more common factors used to determine school system success.”

Instead, Forbes used a 5-part criteria, with the public-school portion consisting of “the metro area’s average number of students per full-time equivalent classroom teacher (the lower the better) with its average instructional expense figure for student (the higher the better)”. In short, it was how many teachers and how much money was thrown at how few students. Guess that explains why Milwaukee got an “A” in that department. At least Forbes notes that “an impressive 18% of (K-12 students) attend one of Milwaukee’s exceptional private schools”, and the private-school portion of the grade was an “A+”.

As a side note, Madison was 2nd.

Revisions/extensions (12:35 pm 12/24/2007) – I need to learn to proof-read. Sorry about that, Mr. Ham.