Holy...$578m school....in LA.

[Nessism]

The LA Unified School district spends $2200 more per student per year than the average California school district. The drop out rate is actually about 1/3, not 50% as mentioned in this article (although 33% is ridiculously horrible in it's own right).

CA teachers are the highest paid in the country plus their pensions allow them to retire at 55 years old with something like 90% of their pay plus medical till death. These costs have forced some layoffs and increased class sizes. The teachers unions won't allow salary reductions to save jobs, so the real looser are the kids and tax payers.

The reason this school cost so much money is because the school district is completely out of touch with reality, as are most CA government workers. The waste is mind boggling and bankrupting the state.

 

[JEDIYoda]

This was funded by a local bond measure, not the state budget.

As such the money could not by Law be spent for anything other than this school!!

 

[Zorkorist]

The reason this school cost so much money is because the school district is completely out of touch with reality, as are most CA government workers. The waste is mind boggling and bankrupting the state.

Quoted for Truth.

And I might mention, that the State, which taxes the People, ain't the only one going bankrupt.

-John

 

[herkulease]

schools need state of the art kitchen and food courts to keeps kids from eating off campus? here's a solution. Lock the gates and don't allow them off campus.

the most pathetic part to me is it is k-12 and only serving 4200 students. there are plenty of high schools(9-12) in LA with over 4000 students.

 

[drebo]

This was funded by a local bond measure, not the state budget. If the LA school districts are borrowing money to pay for overly expensive schools, that is their business. I live in Northern California. Leave us out of this.

- wolf

I live in Northern California, too, and they just built a $300m dollar highschool in a town with 18,000 people in it.

This one WAS state-funded.

We bid on part of the construction. They wanted well over $100,000 worth of surveilance cameras.

The area did not need the highschool. The area cannot afford the highschool. The state cannot afford the highschool. A highschool does not need to cost 300 million dollars.

 

[Zorkorist]

If it saves even just one kid, won't it be worth it?

-John

 

[Double Trouble]

Good schools are obviously a fundamental and critical part of having a good society... but is it just me or do these schools seem absurd to everyone else? Are they building a school or the next Jerry Jones Cowboys stadium?

Far more important than the building and the amenities are the teachers, parental involvement, community involvement etc etc. I'm guessing a perfectly nice school could be built for 1/3'rd of that money, and more money could have been spent on the things that actually matter in terms of getting a good education.

This stuff seems to be going on all over the country, they just built some incredibly huge and lavish high school near me as well. I guarantee that within the next year they will come whining to the taxpayer for a bond or levy to help pay for / maintain this thing or pay for the teachers.

Makes no sense.

 

[PeshakJang]

If it saves even just one kid, won't it be worth it?

-John

Hell no.

 

[Darwin333]

Good schools are obviously a fundamental and critical part of having a good society... but is it just me or do these schools seem absurd to everyone else? Are they building a school or the next Jerry Jones Cowboys stadium?

Far more important than the building and the amenities are the teachers, parental involvement, community involvement etc etc. I'm guessing a perfectly nice school could be built for 1/3'rd of that money, and more money could have been spent on the things that actually matter in terms of getting a good education.

This stuff seems to be going on all over the country, they just built some incredibly huge and lavish high school near me as well. I guarantee that within the next year they will come whining to the taxpayer for a bond or levy to help pay for / maintain this thing or pay for the teachers.

Makes no sense.

1/3rd??? You could build a dozen REALLY nice schools with that kinda cake.

 

[rudder]

It's probably in a very rich area of the city. This means they collect a massive amount of taxes from the high land value.

(i do not support funding schools through property tax)

This district has a very high dropout rate. likely not a wealthy area. Hey but with this fancy new school I bet they decrease dropouts to 47-48%. Not a bad return.

 

[rudder]

CA teachers are the highest paid in the country plus their pensions allow them to retire at 55 years old with something like 90% of their pay plus medical till death. These costs have forced some layoffs and increased class sizes. The teachers unions won't allow salary reductions to save jobs, so the real looser are the kids and tax payers.

The reason this school cost so much money is because the school district is completely out of touch with reality, as are most CA government workers. The waste is mind boggling and bankrupting the state.

And thanks to obama they and the dems... there will be no need to reduce salaries or pensions and they won't have to get laid off! thank you obama!

 

[JockoJohnson]

Why is everyone complaining about the cost of this school? It should almost guarantee a 100% graduation rate. The more money you throw at a problem, the better the results.

 

[Homerboy]

Why is everyone complaining about the cost of this school? It should almost guarantee a 100% graduation rate. The more money you throw at a problem, the better the results.

wait... oh.... Yeah... I see what you did there.

 

[Exterous]

schools need state of the art kitchen and food courts to keeps kids from eating off campus? here's a solution. Lock the gates and don't allow them off campus.

But you might then hurt the kids self esteem!!!

This is why they also need marble memorials, manicured parks and $15 million for historic features

These things are far more important than teachers or academic programs...

 

[Nessism]

And thanks to obama they and the dems... there will be no need to reduce salaries or pensions and they won't have to get laid off! thank you obama!

...not looking to turn this into a Dem/Obama bash fest...but it's a fact that the Dems control CA, and the unions have enormous power.

Some more fun facts about how out of touch CA government is...

Nearly all "Public Safety" workers (police, fire, prison guards, etc.) are allowed to retire at age 50 and receive 90% of their highest average pay plus medical til death. The typical CHP officer retires with over $100,000 annually! Figuring on the average person living till age 80, that means that each worker will receive more than $3,000,000 plus medical. Gotta love California.

 

[Modelworks]

But you might then hurt the kids self esteem!!!

This is why they also need marble memorials, manicured parks and $15 million for historic features

These things are far more important than teachers or academic programs...

hehe
They would have hated to attend the schools I did. Windows with cracks, radiators for heat with melted junk all over them, floors so old they creaked when you walked and that was 20 + years ago and the school is still being used. They wanted to replace it about 3 years ago but the $14 million price quoted was deemed too much.

 

[waggy]

waste of money. that $578 million could have been spent to build a few really nice schools.

yes i think its nuts they are laying off teachers (though that was just a play to raise tax's and get a fed bailout) and building things like this.

a better building is not going to improve education but teachers will.

 

[BoomerD]

What's all the bitching about? That works out to only $137,600 per student.



I constantly shake my head at the mega-campuses school districts build nowadays. Go back to building a single building with 4 or more floors. It doesn't need to be "esthetically pleasing," it doesn't need to have miles of open space. It needs classrooms with good technology. The days of just books, pencils and paper may be over, (computers have changed that) but no school district needs to spend this kind of money building schools.

Our local school district is guilty of the same thing, just not on quite as grand of a scale. The latest high school has almost been completed...at a cost of $140 million...estimated at $66 million when it was first proposed in 2006. Now, the school district is planning to continue plundering the local property owners via the Mello-Roos taxes...

 

[Acanthus]

This district has a very high dropout rate. likely not a wealthy area. Hey but with this fancy new school I bet they decrease dropouts to 47-48%. Not a bad return.

Proof? The article doesn't say that.

Use google maps on the address. It is a wealthy area.

 

[MotF Bane]

Let's see... cut the school cost in half. Now figure each teacher gets paid $80000/year, put 80 teachers in the school... and look at that, 45 years. :hmm:

 

[her209]

This district has a very high dropout rate. likely not a wealthy area. Hey but with this fancy new school I bet they decrease dropouts to 47-48%. Not a bad return.

Have you Googled the address I posted earlier? The school is located in a business area within Koreatown. Having lived a few blocks from where the school was built, I can tell you it mostly consists of apartments. As you move westward, you'll start to find more houses though. The area isn't "rich" though. The ethnic makeup is mixed but a majority Asian (Korean). I can't imagine the traffic nightmare though as Wilshire Blvd. is a clusterfuck already.

 

[Darwin333]

What's all the bitching about? That works out to only $137,600 per student.



I constantly shake my head at the mega-campuses school districts build nowadays. Go back to building a single building with 4 or more floors. It doesn't need to be "esthetically pleasing," it doesn't need to have miles of open space. It needs classrooms with good technology. The days of just books, pencils and paper may be over, (computers have changed that) but no school district needs to spend this kind of money building schools.

Our local school district is guilty of the same thing, just not on quite as grand of a scale. The latest high school has almost been completed...at a cost of $140 million...estimated at $66 million when it was first proposed in 2006. Now, the school district is planning to continue plundering the local property owners via the Mello-Roos taxes...

What exactly have computers changed concerning teaching the core subjects to students? I will grant that they add some luxury value but unless you are talking about teachers just babysitting while the kids learn trig from a computer program, books and paper seem fine. Your not going to reduce the cost of books if that is what you are thinking (textbooks aren't expensive because of the paper they use).

We had a few schools throw a ton of money at "technology" and the academics still suck, same dropout rate, etc... They just have really really nice clocks and get to spend 30 minutes a day playing a video game (or probably surfing for porn if you are friends with one of the nerds).

 

[rpanic]

Looking at all the fucked up schools walking distance from it looks like it will be a massive failure. 60-80 percent English language learners and almost all on free lunch, looks great for the anchor babies.


http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/ca/other/14354#students

http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/ca/other/12157#students

http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/ca/other/1964#students

http://www.greatschools.org/cgi-bin/ca/other/2152#students

 

[BoomerD]

What exactly have computers changed concerning teaching the core subjects to students? I will grant that they add some luxury value but unless you are talking about teachers just babysitting while the kids learn trig from a computer program, books and paper seem fine. Your not going to reduce the cost of books if that is what you are thinking (textbooks aren't expensive because of the paper they use).

We had a few schools throw a ton of money at "technology" and the academics still suck, same dropout rate, etc... They just have really really nice clocks and get to spend 30 minutes a day playing a video game (or probably surfing for porn if you are friends with one of the nerds).

Textbooks are terribly expensive. Have you bought any lately? Granted, some textbooks can be used year after year, but many NEED to be updated on a regular basis...BUT, I more-or-less agree with most of what you've said, except that the computers, instead of being a substitute for textbooks, supplement them and teach the kids to be more computer literate...helping to make them more employable in the computer-driven world of today. Unless the student is going to be a ditch-digger or hamburger flipper, he/she had better be very familiar with the computer programs in general use in the real world.

 

[Darwin333]

Textbooks are terribly expensive. Have you bought any lately? Granted, some textbooks can be used year after year, but many NEED to be updated on a regular basis...BUT, I more-or-less agree with most of what you've said, except that the computers, instead of being a substitute for textbooks, supplement them and teach the kids to be more computer literate...helping to make them more employable in the computer-driven world of today. Unless the student is going to be a ditch-digger or hamburger flipper, he/she had better be very familiar with the computer programs in general use in the real world.

Oh I don't disagree that teaching kids computer skills is vital but we had a thing called a "computer lab" back in my day. These days they think every student must have a new laptop.

Personally, I think smaller classes would go a hellofa lot further than giving each kid a laptop.

And like I said earlier, textbooks are NOT expensive because they use paper and are sold as "books". They would still be expensive if they were sold as "E-books". Hell, they would probably love the idea because then instead of selling you textbooks every 6 or 7 years they could sell a "subscription plan" (like antivirus programs) that has minor updates every now and then.

Look at it this way, a dictionary has just as many words/pages/bindings etc.. as an average textbook does. So the cost to actually make the books should be similar (hell, throw 50% extra on the textbooks if you want to argue volume). What does a dictionary cost compared to a textbook?