The Ann Arbor school district is looking for more kids. Compared to last year, the district is down about 200 kids. This has prompted the school board to look at ways to bump up the revenue stream. By their own estimates, there are 4,000 kids in Ann Arbor that attend charter or private schools as opposed to the Ann Arbor school system. This translates into $37.5 Million in new dollars that could come into the district. While the income stream has been estimated, the district appears to be fuzzy on how much this could cost them in actually educating and teaching these children.
Here's the Ann Arbor News article on this topic. According to the article, the district is facing a nearly $14 Million shortfall over the next few years. This is in light of the new High School, not yet completed, on the North side of town that happens to be a little over budget and, with Pfizer winging its way out of town, will likely be under utilized.
The board's solution? More dollars thrown at marketing and advertising the school district. While I cannot fault them about spending money to make money (hmm...sounds like business to me), what has changed so drastically that only 80% of total number of school aged kids is now not enough to cover the budget? I think the board is aiming to fix this problem the best they can. They need to be a little more thorough in their approach. To have a board meeting to discuss bumping up the marketing of the school system, and not have at least a rudimentary cost-benefit analysis is sophomoric.
If our school boards are going to make the motions of behaving like a business, let's hold them accountable and require due diligence on the dollars being spent. For example, if the marketing budget is going to be increased, what is the expected return on investment for this push? What, exactly, are the goals of this marketing? Is it to capture all 20% of those students at private and charter schools? What defines a success in this marketing effort? How long will this level of the marketing budget be expected to be kept in place?
All in all, a comendable effort appears as though it is about to be undertaken. Here's to the Ann Arbor school board doing the right thing!
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Todd,
With the challenges Ann Arbor could see in the near future, I'm sure you'll see more of this. I heard the other day that in a few years retirement and health care for school district employees will eat up more than 25 percent of the money received per pupil. Not that I'm against everyone having a decent retirement or health care, but there are alternatives to the present that may cost less.