Yes, we should be careful with raw data. So I went back on that link and compared St. Paul to Minneapolis, as they are similarly sized and drawing from a similar geographic, with similar economic factors. It seems like the most comparable city out there. Minneapolis is worse than St. Paul on every measure except for larceny/theft.
While eating lunch today, I overheard a conversation at the table next to me about the $15,000 a year we spend per student in public school. I also overheard that the single most important contributor to student performance was family - not school, not money, not peers, race, IQ or anything else. I wonder, would it be possible to take, say, $5,000 of that money we spend per pupil and give it to the family? What would happen if we did that? A family with four children would get an extra $20,000 a year to defray the costs of sending their kid to school. A single parent would get a huge boost from even a little extra. It might be a reason for a troubled family to stay together and work on the marriage, rather than one losing out on the kid's school money (many studies have shown the single greatest reason for marital trouble is money, and that the single greatest factor in who files for divorce is who expects to get child custody - and thus the money).
Just a thought.
Mary Baker East Side
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