Bottom of the Bell Curve Idahoans

Bottom of the Bell Curve Idahoans

As is typical of liberals elsewhere in America, liberal Idahoans fancy themselves as being more educated and intelligent than the peasants. From reading the comments that appear online with respect to stories in the Idaho Statesman, I'm not seeing it! A March 13, 2009 news story concerned Boise School District's looming layoff of 122 teachers explained that the reason for this was only partly state funding problems:

Hollar said the district won't know how cuts will affect class size until the school year starts because classes are based on enrollment.
Secondary student enrollment has dropped by 550 students in the past five years, and the district has been overstaffed with teachers, especially at the secondary level, he said.

Meridian's school district (which is the adjoining suburb to the west) isn't suffering a declining student population:

Meridian School District, Idaho's largest, is growing and may qualify for additional teachers next school year, according to spokesman Eric Exline.
Meridian had 1,100 more students this past fall than it did in the fall of 2007, he said.
Nampa School District expects slight growth in student numbers next year, and any potential reductions in staff likely will be covered by people retiring or leaving their positions, said spokeswoman Allison Westfall.

So the core problem here is that Boise School District's student population is falling. The shortfall of state funding, while part of the problem, is clearly not a serious one--or Meridian and Nampa schools would also be getting ready to do layoffs. So what do the elite, intelligent, highly educated commenters get out of this article?

In related news, television and print sources will see a marked decline in the number of stories about teacher-student abuse. Being on the phony kidnappings and psychotic murderers-WOO HOO!

I can't even figure out what this fool was trying to say.

Looks like the republican plan to dumb down Idaho is welll on it's way to fruitation. In 2010 lets change teams and try the other side for a real change.

Except that the problem here is primarily a declining student population. How will electing Democrats change that?

As 'Peak Oil' continues to ravage the world, education past reading and basic math will become a luxury almost no one will be able to afford. Children will be neede to help grow food soon.

Another of those "Visualize Industrial Collapse" liberals.

The last thing we want to do is fire teachers, one of our most important and least respected public servants. I'd say most teachers in this State do more good than most politicians. I have no hesitation in saying that most teachers in the classrooms do a better job than school administrators.

Our children are already about as poorly educated than I can remember. Keep them in school longer and teach them. Make them do homework and make extra-curricular activities exactly that. Extra.

And yet the problem here is: not enough students!

Fund education or fund prisons.

More liberal bumper stickers instead of actual analysis of what the news story says: student population falling!

Now, I agree that in some ideal world where teachers, students, and classrooms are perfectly fungible, funds were not in short supply, there might be an argument that lowering class size would be good--take those 122 teachers, and reduce the size of existing classes. But this is not the case. Some of the teachers being let go are secondary, some are primary. The qualifications are different. A high school English teacher can't suddenly become an elementary school teacher, and many would not be willing to do so, and vice versa. Someone qualified to teach twelfth grade English isn't qualified to take over a chemistry class. If you have a half teacher surplus in one high school, it may not be feasible to have that teacher teaching in two different high schools. (Well, until they get the teleportation booths working.)

Adding to the problem is that there are "step" functions involved in staffing a school. If you have a class of 30 students, adding two more students is a burden on the teacher, no question. The marginal cost for adding those two students the classroom is quite small. But adding another teacher means that you now have two classes of 16 students--and the marginal cost of one more teacher's salary and benefits is substantial. Oh yes: you need another classroom, too. Even if you use a portable to accomplish this (as many districts did in my youth), this is a non-trivial increase in costs.