Guaranteed
Fix for Lawrence Schools The Children of
Lawrence Deserve Real Reform
Dr. Charles
Ormsby
Where is
the outrage? Thousands of children’s
lives are being destroyed by self-serving
adults in the Lawrence school system and
little notice is taken.
Nothing to see here. Just move along.
So, ex-Superintendent Laboy is being sent
to jail for 90 days. Big deal.
If that is Laboy’s penalty for
misdirecting several thousand taxpayer
dollars to benefit himself or his
friends/benefactors, what penalties are
appropriate for the real crimes being
committed in the Lawrence schools?
Wasting the entire $150 million budget
would be bad enough, but the real damage
is much worse than that. By throwing away
such resources, the Lawrence public
schools are destroying the only
opportunity these children have to gain
the knowledge and skills required to
succeed in a highly competitive world.
What do you think of the following
penalty? Any adult who supports the
government schools in Lawrence, from the
governor and our legislators on down to
the mayor, superintendent, and union
bosses, should be half hung,
disemboweled, and then drawn and
quartered.
Heck, that was the standard punishment
for heretics in 1540 under Henry VIII.Since those who run the Lawrence
school system do more damage to their
students every day than any heretic did
in his entire lifetime in 16th
Century England, should any lesser
punishment be considered?
Lawrence High School should be servicing
at least 4800 students (four times the 9th
grade enrollment of 1200). And that
nominal enrollment figure assumes there
are no pre-high school dropouts. Lawrence’s
current high school enrollment is
approximately 3200. Where are the 1600
missing students? Can you imagine that
the Lawrence schools are so bad that even
“free” doesn’t induce
these 1600 students to attend!
Only 25 percent of Lawrence’s eighth
grade students, based on MCAS test
results, are proficient in mathematics.
The percentage of proficient students
increases to only 27 percent in tenth
grade (winter 2011), but this can hardly
be considered progress since there are
roughly 30 percent fewer students
remaining to take the 10th grade test.
Since the dropouts are likely to be the
least proficient students, the percentage
should have risen substantially just due
to attrition!
The fact that the Lawrence public school
system is a basket case is old news. If
criminal indictments are not forthcoming,
maybe parents should march in and make
citizens’ arrests.
Instead of offering additional screams of
outrage, I will offer a REAL solution to
Lawrence’s educational woes. Before
you reject this solution out of hand, ask
yourself: “Could the system
described below possibly perform worse
than the current system?”
Here is a top-level summary of what I
propose:
First, turn Lawrence High School into six
private, competing high schools.
Then take the total annual cost of
running the high school and divide it by
the total number of eligible high school
students and issue vouchers for that
amount to the parents/guardians of every
eligible student. Each voucher would
provide admission to one of the six
competing high schools for one academic
year. Parents would choose their
children’s school based on their
children’s needs and the educational
programs offered by the six competing
schools. The schools would be reimbursed
based on the number of students that
chose to attend their school. Classroom
space would be allocated to the schools
proportionately based on enrollment.
Before trying to answer the myriad of
questions such a proposal elicits,
let’s reflect for just a moment on
why such a proposal will ensure that REAL
improvements will result for
Lawrence’s students.
Restructuring Lawrence’s high school
in this manner aligns the schools’
interests with the interests of the
students. Failure of a school to serve
its students’ interests will quickly
result in a loss of enrollment and
consequently a loss of revenue. The
employees of the schools will be
painfully aware that their career
opportunities and financial rewards are
contingent on student enrollment which,
in turn will depend on student success
and the degree to which the educational
demands of students and their parents are
met.
If fewer students enroll in a school,
there will be less revenue and therefore
fewer jobs. If a school has to down-size,
it had better retain its best teachers or
it will get even fewer students the
following year. So, even if compulsory
bargaining is retained (which it
shouldn’t be), all of a
school’s employees -- from the
administrators down to classroom teachers
and custodians -- are incentivized to
operate efficiently and effectively.
No students, no jobs. It is as simple as
that. The discipline of the marketplace
will finally ensure that students’
needs are met. Finally!
Is any other alternative as likely to
ensure that every dollar spent and
every human action paid for by those
dollars will be focused on meeting the
educational needs of the students of
Lawrence
You already know that the
government-administered,
politically-controlled, union-dominated
status quo will continue to fail the
students every day of the year. If we
want the children to win, we need to give
the power to the parents.
The customers must be given the power of
the purse and the institution must be
forced to compete for their income. It is
the only answer. As history has
demonstrated, any approach that
doesn’t empower the customer is
destined to fail.
If this proposal is seriously considered,
the current self-serving administrators
and unions will scream bloody murder. Of
course, this is the best indication that
we are on the right path.
As soon as vouchers are put in the hands
of parents and they see the face amount,
they will embrace this system and they
will fight any attempt to overturn it.
How much would the vouchers be worth? The
enrollment of the Lawrence school system
was projected to be under 8,200 in the
School Committee’s approved 2012
budget. The proposed budget was over $150
million. That implies a per-pupil amount
of over $18,000 and that budget does NOT
count the cost of the school buildings
and maintenance!
Therefore, the value of the vouchers for
the current 3200 students could be over
$17,000 and still save the taxpayers
millions of dollars. Since eligible
students that are not currently enrolled
(those 1600 missing souls) would also
receive vouchers, the amount would need
to be reduced to account for increased
enrollment - but is that bad? No, that's
good!
Based on the percentage of students in
the school system currently attending
high school, the assigned voucher
resources would total over $55 million.
Assuming half of the 1600 missing
students return to the classroom (leading
to a total enrollment of 4000), the six
private high schools would have an
average enrollment of 667 students and
would have to “make due” with a
budget of $13,750 per pupil. They would
have no cost for facilities except for
heat, electricity and routine
maintenance.
Note that the 2012-13 tuition at Central
Catholic High School has been set at
$11,300 and this has to cover the cost of
facilities!!
What possible argument is there to
maintain the current fiasco? Who in his
right mind would be willing to stand up
and defend this criminal enterprise?
Certainly the current teachers should
welcome the abolition of this travesty.
They can’t possibly enjoy teaching
in an institution that is designed to do
anything except educate.
Parents and students should “Occupy
Lawrence High School” and demand
privatization.
The only alternative may be to resurrect
Henry VIII. He would know how to deal
with this heretical enterprise! Dr. Ormsby is an ex- member of the
N.A. School Committee. He is a graduate
of Cornell and has a doctorate from MIT.
He is currently a Professor of
Mathematics at UMASS, Lowell. You can
email him at: ccormsby@comcast.net
