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Hello,
Although I do not live in Minneapolis, I am a
frequent reader of this list. I have a question for the Minneapolis residents
regarding their perceptions of value delivered by the Minneapolis school
district in comparison to the value delivered by the Memphis school district. I
was struck by the relatively close budget dollars, while the student
population in the Memphis district is over 2.5 times greater than the student
population in Minneapolis.
These numbers are from today's Star Tribune
article.
Type
Minneapolis
Memphis
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Enrollment 46,000
118,000
School
bldgs 132 178
Staff
7,500 15,000
Budget
$677,000,000 $731,000,000
My calculations
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$/student
$14,717
$6,195
student/staff 6.13
7.87
Why does Minneapolis spend so much more per student
than Memphis? The higher salary for a teacher in Minneapolis (varies, but I will
throw out an estimate of about $4,000) will account for some of the
difference, but certainly not anywhere near the whole amount.
Does anyone care to dig into the effectiveness of
either school district? Graduation rates, student test scores, and so on. Some
objective analysis would be more interesting than a vague statement
about number of students receiving a free or reduced lunch.
What do you think could be done to reduce the cost
per student in Minneapolis?
It's your school district, you can pay whatever you
feel necessary. I, however, would be asking the school board these questions if
I paid for the Minneapolis schools.
Tom Searles
Waconia Twp.
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