Wednesday, August 29, 2007

It Falls Apart--When it Falls!


John Archibald writes of Birmingham's school enrollment falling below that of Shelby County. His figures on the administrative costs are telling:
"Birmingham spent 4.4 percent of all its expenditures, an amount approaching $14 million, on administration costs, the records show. Shelby, by contrast, spent 1.5 percent of its budget, or less than $3 million, on administration.

In fact, the cost of administration in the shrinking-but-still-bloated Birmingham school system came to about $500 per student, highest among the state's 10 largest school districts and 45 percent more than second-place Mobile County. Administration costs about $218 per student in Jefferson County and just $120 per child in Shelby County."

His comment that I want to remember:
"...Educating children is Job One.

When you cease to do that well, when you start to act more like an employment agency than a school system, don't be surprised when it all falls apart..."


CYO will play it's first concert at the Fall Colorfest in Mentone. While there we'll visit DeSoto Falls. This blog entry by Tommy Stevenson of the Tuscaloosa News says that there's not much water going over the falls these days. From a geologist's point of view, that's a great time to get a good look at the rock formations around the falls. Attitude is everything!

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